Mercedes F1 chief Toto Wolff insists that the relationship between Russian Grand Prix winner Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton is healthy, despite the team’s newcomer thoroughly trouncing the triple world champion at Sochi Autodrom.
Bottas was quicker than Hamilton in every session during the course of the weekend in Russia and then powered to an impressive victory on race day to signal his title aspirations in the best way possible.
Mercedes endured four years of bitter internal feuding between retired World Champion Nico Rosberg and Hamilton but for now, according to Wolff, it appears that the Bottas-Hamilton situation is not heading in that direction.
Wolff told reporters after the race in Sochi, “The relationship between the two of them is very much intact. Lewis was one of the first to congratulate Valtteri on his first race victory and that shows the respect they have towards each other.
“Nevertheless both are fierce competitors and want to win races and fight for the championship, but I don’t think it will affect the team dynamic like it did with Nico. That was a completely different relationship.”
“Valtteri is an outstanding driver and a very deserved winner. To be Lewis Hamilton’s teammate and take over the reigning world champion’s car, I think he has done a very good job. He has been on pole once already and won the race [in Russia] with a lot of pressure from Sebastian.”
“He is going to be very happy about this milestone that he has achieved but now it is about looking forward. So many things we have to look at to understand and try to find out how we can optimize the performance of the car because we have a real fight,” added Wolff.
After four rounds, Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel leads the championship standings with 86 points, Hamilton trails him by 13 points, while Bottas is now third with ten points between him and his Mercedes teammate.
Big Question: Can Mercedes maintain harmony between Lewis and Valtteri?
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