Valtteri Bottas says he trusts Mercedes to make the right calls in terms of team orders in the remaining part of the season.
The Finn currently trails teammate Lewis Hamilton by 87 points with a maximum of 200 points on the table in the remaining eight rounds. Following Sebastian Vettel’s dominant win at Spa-Francorchamps, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff admitted team orders may have to be used in the near future.
When asked about the prospect of supporting Hamilton’s title fight against Vettel, Bottas replied: “For sure it will be different, in terms of how you approach the weekend, but I think the team would still support both of us a lot. If I would have the pace to win a race, by pure speed, if I’m about to win a race, it’s up to the team to look at the situation.
“I don’t think, in anyway, I would completely lose the freedom to win the race if I’m able to do so. It depends on the situation: if there are clear points or way to avoid me or Lewis to lose points, we’ll see how to do it. It will always depend on the situation and I do trust the team that they have respect for both drivers and won’t do anything too harsh.”
Mercedes has been F1’s leading outfit since the introduction of the V6 hybrid engine at the start of 2014 but in 2018 it is widely accepted that Ferrari now holds the pace advantage. Bottas believes the team dynamic and atmosphere is still the same as it was when Mercedes had the outright fastest car in F1.
“It definitely hasn’t changed the dynamics in the team,” Bottas added. “That’s actually motivating us even more than before, knowing that we need to work hard, we need to improve because we want to win. It’s not like this wasn’t the case before, but when the team had the best car we set our own targets for how much we needed to improve every race. Now the goal is simpler a quicker car and a quicker team.
“That obviously motivates us more, but I can’t see a different spirit or different dynamics, we’re still working flat out.
Mercedes has already used team orders in 2018 after it told Bottas to remain behind Hamilton following the duo’s brief battle following the Safety Car period at the German Grand Prix.