No point in backing up Vettel, say Mercedes drivers
Mercedes drivers Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton say it would not make sense for the Finn to try to slow Sebastian Vettel down during the Austrian Grand Prix.
Bottas qualified on pole position at the Red Bull Ring as Hamilton, who has a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change, finished behind championship rival Vettel in third.
The Briton, trailing Vettel by 14 points, will thus start the race from eighth place, six positions behind the Ferrari driver.
Despite that, Hamilton insisted there was no point in Bottas trying to help him tomorrow by deliberately backing off Vettel on race day.
"It makes no sense for Valtteri to slow down, so he will push as hard as he can to win the race," he said.
Bottas echoed his teammate's feelings, saying trying to back Vettel up could prove costly.
"From what I have seen in the pre-race strategy notes, that kind of plan is not on those notes," said Bottas.
"We need to focus on trying to have a good start to the race and we need to win the race.
"Lewis can fight back from where he is starting. If you start playing games it gets tricky, if the car behind gets DRS and the slipstream, then with just one mistake they can get the win."
Hamilton, who finished second from ninth on the grid in 2014, admitted he is not thinking of victory tomorrow given Bottas' pace and his starting position.
"Valtteri has been quickest all weekend, so it's not really in my mind at the moment," he added.
"I am pretty sure back then [2014] there was a bigger difference of speed delta with the other cars.
"It is more unlikely than it was then, but I will give it everything I can and of course I will be happy if I get up there."
Share Or Save This Story
Alpine becomes Pramac's main partner in MotoGP
Liberty Media's $4bn MotoGP deal facing EU probe
Ocon wants answers to understand pace slump against Alpine team-mate
Lewis Hamilton: ‘I towed Charles the whole time’ and ended up 0.5s slower
Why "dangerous" Hamilton-Lawson incident in Azerbaijan GP practice hasn't led to change
Lewis Hamilton and Fred Vasseur recall GP2 title and 'most impressive race ever', 20 years on
Why Max Verstappen says 0.196s Baku finish-line gap to George Russell is slightly misleading
Baku late-race chaos almost costs George Russell victory over Max Verstappen
Kimi Antonelli: I was "driving like my grandmother" in Baku F1 race
Conor Daly earns career-best NASCAR Truck finish in chaotic Kansas race
After five-hour rain delay, Kaden Honeycutt wins dramatic NASCAR Truck race at Kansas
Frankie Muniz earns another GT4 America win with co-driver Tyler Stone at Barber
Isack Hadjar earns "team-mate points" after "exceptional comeback" in Baku, says Alex Brundle
Baku late-race chaos almost costs George Russell victory over Max Verstappen
How George Russell claimed his career-best pole margin in F1 Azerbaijan GP qualifying
How the chase to catch Mercedes is unfolding
What we learned from Thursday practice at the 2026 F1 Azerbaijan GP
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments