Valtteri Bottas has defended the strategy of Mercedes used during the Italian Grand Prix that helped teammate Lewis Hamilton win the race. Bottas was kept out on a long first stint to play interference with Kimi Raikkonen's early-stopping Ferrari, whilst Hamilton extended his stint.
In the aftermath of the race at Monza, Mercedes were accused of abandoning strategy for Bottas in favour of ensuring a win for the championship contender in Hamilton, however Bottas rebuffed these claims by saying he felt his strategy was the optimum one for his race.
“It wasn’t like I was really sacrificing my race as long I was keeping Kimi behind,” he said. “If he overtook me then for sure I would lose time.”
“Maybe a little bit earlier would have been ideal for me to stop, I was happy to do it because for me I knew I would still get a chance to attack Verstappen.
“So I think it didn’t compromise my result, it was all good.”
Earlier in the season after the Hungarian Grand Prix, Bottas was hurt after team boss Toto Wolff called him the perfect "wingman", but with the championship seemingly a head-to-head fight between Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, Bottas admitted his role might change into one of support for his teammate.
“Honestly the points difference between me and Lewis is now very big so I’m willing to co-operate when it makes sense. We’re here as a team and we need to be realistic. The team wants to win both titles.”
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