Bottas didn't feel "enormously responsible" to help Russell at Mercedes

Valtteri Bottas was the leader for Mercedes in the absence of Lewis Hamilton, but did not feel extra responsible for George Russell. In the end it turned out that this was not necessary either, because Russell was perhaps even faster.

Bottas the leader

Russell made his debut in Bahrain for Mercedes after Lewis Hamilton tested positive coronavirus. The Brit made an immediate impression by being quick on Friday and staying close to Bottas on Saturday. On Sunday, the victory was on the cards, but Russell didn't get that chance because of mistakes made by the team.

Bottas went into the lead before the weekend, but could not really live up to those expectations. ''It was a different feeling, because I've never been the oldest member of a team," said Bottas.

No help for Russell

''As a driver you want to get the best out of it in the end and then it doesn't matter who your teammate is. You just want to beat them,'' says the Finn, who didn't feel responsible for helping George either. George started setting up Lewis the weekend before, so he didn't have to do much. He has engineers at his disposal, so they know what they can do with that car," said the Finn to Autosport.com.

''I didn't feel enormously responsible, because if there was anything I could do to change the direction, I would give those instructions. That spoke for itself reasonably well."