Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff has brushed off claims the use of team orders during the German Grand Prix signifies Valtteri Bottas as No.2 to Lewis Hamilton.
The Finn tried to make a move on his teammate in the first lap after the Safety Car period, caused by the off for Sebastian Vettel, but after unsuccessful attempts at the hairpin and Turn 8, was given the order to hold station until the end.
While Valtteri accepted the reasons for that decision, naturally many believe it was proof that the 28-year-old is simply now playing a support role to the four-time world champion.
“No, absolutely not,” he declared in response. “If it would have been the other way around with Valtteri in the lead and Lewis second we would have made the same call.
“Identical call. It was about bringing it home, we respected who was in the front.”
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The Austrian tried to reiterate his point by once again going over the policy in place at Mercedes when it comes to favouring a single driver in the championship.
“We’ve always said that if we get to the last quarter of the championship with one of the drivers having a big advantage, then we could take some unpopular measures, but the time for this has not yet come,” he said.
“Today we used team tactics so that both cars were guaranteed to finish. As I said, if Valtteri had been leading, we would have made the decision in his favour.”