Team Orders – Bottas: “It’s the worst thing you want to hear”

Team Orders – Bottas: “It’s the worst thing you want to hear”

Yesterday, we had the Bahrain Grand Prix (see Race Report here) and once again – we had the dreaded team orders from the Mercedes team.

It’s an unpopular call and as I’ve said before – I’m against team order like this. For me, Formula 1 is all about racing and this is what we all want to see.

If a driver can get by another driver (no matter if it’s a team-mate or not) – good!

If not, then he has to earn his way past by doing what he knows best – and that’s racing!

 Starting the race on pole – Bottas led the early stages of the race but after an issue with tyre pressures, Hamilton looked stronger and the call came through from the team – “Please let Lewis through“

When asked about the situation – this is what Bottas had to say after the Bahrain Grand Prix yesterday…

“As a racing driver, it’s the worst thing you want to hear – but that’s life. I understand the team completely and they had an opportunity at the end of the day to get some extra points for the team and fight for the victory.“

“I see the point but it’s still tough when you’re on pole and you’re trying to win a race but I’m a team player and I wouldn’t say no to that.”

“I think there could have been a possibility to be ahead – I would have had to defend hard and that could have meant some risky situations but like I said, the team thought he (Hamilton) had the chance to catch Sebastian possibly and we tried it.“

When asked whether he could have finished the race ahead of his team-mate Lewis Hamilton if he hadn’t listened to team orders.

What do you think about team orders?

Would you prefer no team orders and letting the drivers race one another?

The Formula 1 Girl 🙂

xx