Hamilton speaks up for Bottas: 'People should give him a break'

Valtteri Bottas has been under pressure for some time at Mercedes, but he is backed by his teammate Lewis Hamilton. This week it was rumoured that the Finn would be sent off before the end of the season.

Bottas himself responded on Thursday to rumours that he would have to make way for George Russell. Hamilton received some questions about his teammate during the press conference and takes issue with him: "From what I’ve experienced, from the relationship of course that I have with Valtteri, I think he’s been an amazing team-mate as I’ve always said," he is quoted by Autosport.com.

"If I’m really honest, I feel like we have the best line-up currently in terms of deliverables, in terms of the equilibrium that’s within our team, and the general knowledge in terms of moving our car forwards," the Mercedes driver continued. "I’m not going to be here forever, Valtteri won’t be here forever, but right now, I think we’ve delivered time and time again over the years, and we continue to."

Hamilton is therefore done with the media continuously putting Bottas in a bad light. He believes it is too early in the season to talk about a possible driver swap. "I think people need to give him a break, and just let him focus on doing what he’s doing," the seven-time world champion concluded.