Lewis Hamilton was victorious in today's Russian Grand Prix at Sochi after the Mercedes team asked their drivers to switch positions. This clearly left Bottas disappointed after the race while third placed Vettel limited the damage in a weekend that saw Mercedes as the strongest team.
I do not like it, but Guys, ALL the teams are there for the same thing. It had to be done.
I feel really sorry for Bottas, but I hope they do give him another years contract because he has been the perfect team player and not even bitched about it.
Nice to see Hamilton call him onto the top step to receive his trophy too, shows he acknowledges who's win it was
yes even as a merc fan i was hoping they would ask lewis to move over.....but from championship point of view now he is 2DNFs ahead, which would cement the WDC for him ...and surely even as i type it, Toto is promising a win back in the last race from Lewis after he won the WDC...and also some bonus and contract extensions etc
Or at least paid the win bonus ( and a special trophy, full of cash)
i am sure Valteri has enough money from his f1 career.....and he sure must have negotiated a win deal and contract extension etc
It was a great gesture from Lewis to pull Bottas up to the top step of the podium. It was a sh*t decision from Merc to swap them
Interestingly for that same gesture in Austria 2002 Ferrari was booed by the fans, fined by the FIA with $1m and team orders were banned at the end of the season.
But this time it was Mercedes and "we have the best fans here" Hamilton, so it is now "a great gesture" and there will be no fines at all
Well, team and driver are two different entities at the end of the day. Watching Austria I was happy that Schumacher acknowledged the fact that Rubens should win, like Hamilton today. Kudos to those two, the team managers should only be blamed.
They are there to do just that job. The team, from driver to dishwasher in the factory all gain from it (well, except Bottas)
When arguing with a fool, be sure the other person is not doing the same thing.
It was a great gesture from Lewis to pull Bottas up to the top step of the podium. It was a sh*t decision from Merc to swap them
Interestingly for that same gesture in Austria 2002 Ferrari was booed by the fans, fined by the FIA with $1m and team orders were banned at the end of the season.
But this time it was Mercedes and "we have the best fans here" Hamilton, so it is now "a great gesture" and there will be no fines at all
Sorry, but I really don't care for partisan positions. It was a great gesture.
It was a great gesture from Lewis to pull Bottas up to the top step of the podium. It was a sh*t decision from Merc to swap them
Interestingly for that same gesture in Austria 2002 Ferrari was booed by the fans, fined by the FIA with $1m and team orders were banned at the end of the season.
But this time it was Mercedes and "we have the best fans here" Hamilton, so it is now "a great gesture" and there will be no fines at all
Your story doesn't sound genuine... You sure you aren't twisting the truth?
Will this be the first time ever Hamilton is going to be gifted a win by his team mate?
Yes it is the first. Sort of Schumacheresque is a bad way... but it Toto who is to blame.
No, it was not , Monaco against future world champion, co gifted by team orders and Red Bull hiding Ricciardo's tyres.
Stop pretending it was the first time anything . It was sixth or seventh team orders (lost track) in favour of Hamilton at Mercedes. Zero against. As pure a racer as it gets. I dedicate this number to every British commentator cackling about "Fernado is quicker".
That's all folks, stick a fork in it. Congratulations to Ferrari for losing everything five races to go. They lose every season before it starts anyway because of the drivers.
Will this be the first time ever Hamilton is going to be gifted a win by his team mate?
Yes it is the first. Sort of Schumacheresque is a bad way... but it Toto who is to blame.
No, it was not , Monaco against future world champion, co gifted by team orders and Red Bull hiding Ricciardo's tyres.
Stop pretending it was the first time anything . It was sixth or seventh team orders (lost track) in favour of Hamilton at Mercedes. Zero against. As pure a racer as it gets. I dedicate this number to every British commentator cackling about "Fernado is quicker".
That's all folks, stick a fork in it. Congratulations to Ferrari for losing everything five races to go. They lose every season before it starts anyway because of the drivers.
The rules have changed. It is now allowed like it or not (and I do not) but if they replace your local 30mph road sign with a 50 one, you go through at 50.
When arguing with a fool, be sure the other person is not doing the same thing.
Will this be the first time ever Hamilton is going to be gifted a win by his team mate?
Yes it is the first. Sort of Schumacheresque is a bad way... but it Toto who is to blame.
No, it was not , Monaco against future world champion, co gifted by team orders and Red Bull hiding Ricciardo's tyres.
Stop pretending it was the first time anything . It was sixth or seventh team orders (lost track) in favour of Hamilton at Mercedes. Zero against. As pure a racer as it gets. I dedicate this number to every British commentator cackling about "Fernado is quicker".
That's all folks, stick a fork in it. Congratulations to Ferrari for losing everything five races to go. They lose every season before it starts anyway because of the drivers.
You make it sound as if Ferrari did better calls they would be winning right now. Simply not true. Mercedes just had the better drivers. Valterri and Lewis been kicking their butts all year. Even today Kimi was nowhere in the mix.
Yes it is the first. Sort of Schumacheresque is a bad way... but it Toto who is to blame.
No, it was not , Monaco against future world champion, co gifted by team orders and Red Bull hiding Ricciardo's tyres.
Stop pretending it was the first time anything . It was sixth or seventh team orders (lost track) in favour of Hamilton at Mercedes. Zero against. As pure a racer as it gets. I dedicate this number to every British commentator cackling about "Fernado is quicker".
That's all folks, stick a fork in it. Congratulations to Ferrari for losing everything five races to go. They lose every season before it starts anyway because of the drivers.
The rules have changed. It is now allowed like it or not (and I do not) but if they replace your local 30mph road sign with a 50 one, you go through at 50.
Huh, what rules? Rules of pureness of racing ? Rules of team orders? Rules of double standards aka Hungary '14? You see it's sometimes 30 - Rosberg/Bottas and sometimes 50 Hamilton.
Are you commenting perhaps quoted posts? Nevermind, the point was it was not the first time as some fans are desperately trying to pretend .
I gotta say, today felt a little dirty, and I'm of two minds on this.
1) Mercedes is treating Hamilton like the 5 time WDC he's likely to become, If we're going to compare champions, you can't deny that Schumacher was treated by Ferrari in this same fashion, always so it's nice to see Hamilton receiving treatment that he's never had previously in his career. If you're going to chase record numbers you can't do it unless you do it this way. It seems to me that Mercedes want the record numbers and they want the full association with Hamilton in those records and fair enough to them, they pay top dollar for it so it's their choice to make.
2) As a racer you simply can't feel good about it(it simply feels wrong, dirty) and if I feel this way after just one race, I can't imagine how I'd feel as a Ferrari fan for all those years.
Other than that, I can't wait for Sochi to be out of the F1 calendar, It sucks in every way possible as an F1 venue.
It's unsavory, but that's about the only negative here. Perhaps Bottas' morale will be effected but, unfortunately, he's entirely expendable. He should take heart from the fact they had to ask him to move out the way, and he should try to put himself in these positions more often. Doing so would force a rethink. However, when its only once or twice a year, the bosses won't hesitate to make the same decision again.
The feel good story would be that Bottas wins, but using all the tools at their disposal Merc have ensured they have a better chance at both championships. If ANY team is in the same position I would not be surprised if the same tactics are employed, as has been done in the past.
I’m sure everyone has had to eat sh*t at some time or another in their careers, I know I have, it doesn’t make it any better but if you are truly valued as an employee (ie. driver) you will get over it by the next race.
I also think there is something else at play here. Mercedes/Hamilton are trying to win their races as slow as possible, or when winning is going to take a lot out of the PU, like in Belgium, settle with second right from the first few laps. They were fastest by a big amount if Q and the ease where Hamilton overtook Vettel was almost shocking. It could even be that Bottas is able to run his PU a bit harder in Q then Hamilton, having had the upper hand in the FP sessions. On the other hands, Russia isn't been one of Hamilton strongest tracks.
It wouldn't surprise me if Ferrari will have some PU issues the coming races, having to use more performance relative to Mercedes the second half of the season. Was there any news if the PU from Austria had damage?
Well, it is difficult to understand why one has to lose his mind over the team orders! While Formula 1 is a team sport, it only offers 1 WDC for a team that can employ two active drivers. As the leader of the racing team, someone like Toto is answerable to the board that provides the necessary budgets and you wouldn't want to be regretting not having made a call like that of today at the end of the year, if you couldn't have secured both titles. At the end of the day, this sport is as much a business and you can't be sentimental while running it.
Putting up a good show isn't the primary purpose of a racing team, it's just a byproduct of participating in the sport, which by nature is a competition. The idea is to compete and win as a team and secure every possible, available title.
If a team starts putting the public interest/opinion ahead of it's own interests and ends up losing titles, like McLaren did in 2007, the leader of the team stands like a fool at the end of the year. People quickly forget and move on what happened today, but the history will judge the team and the leader as a loser.
I admired Ferrari doing it in 90s and 2000s with Schumacher and I don't know what is wrong with them now and how is that they been so indecisive in the past few GPs. It just baffles me.
Mercedes W09 has already endured mechanical DNFs on both cars at different points of the season and they would be stupid to let go of an opportunity like that of today, to make a good decision and secure the interests of the team.
The feel good story would be that Bottas wins, but using all the tools at their disposal Merc have ensured they have a better chance at both championships.
To be honest, I think they have harmed their chance at both championships. It's better to have a motivated and performing Bottas, than one who loses trust in his team. A motivated and performing Bottas is a stronger ally than one who isn't.
Not for nothing, Rosberg's Championship is the only thing that lends credibility to Hamilton's recent success. Otherwise, he'd just be the guy who's had the best car. — bhall II #Team44 supporter
( and a special trophy, full of cash)
? Rules of team orders? Rules of double standards aka Hungary '14? You see it's sometimes 30 - Rosberg/Bottas and sometimes 50 Hamilton. 
