Lewis Hamilton won this year's Russian Grand Prix in Sochi however, many say he was gifted the win by his teammate, Valtteri Bottas, after the Finn received team orders to let Hamilton overtake. "You need to let Lewis by into turn 13 this lap", Tony Ross, Bottas' race engineer said. The move was then explained to Bottas by James Allison, Mercedes' Technical Director, who explained it as,"We had a risk with Lewis against Vettel. He had a small blister. I had to do this to make sure we secured this."
However, this wasn't a satisfactory answer for Valtteri, who was still asking if they were to switch back on the last lap. Which would have meant Valtteri would secure his first win of the season, instead Hamilton added yet another win to his tally of 8 out of the 16 races completed. Hamilton has won a total of 70 races in his Formula One career.
Valtteri however, has only won 3 times in his Formula One career and has yet to secure the top step this current season, making these team orders an even more bitter pill to swallow.
For many watching, the team orders seemed to add awkwardness to the whole podium and even Paddock. It seemed as though this scenario wasn't discussed in the Mercedes drivers briefing. Mercedes Team Principle, Toto Wolff said," It doesn't feel right to interfere in the race like this." To which David Coulthard responded," Management decision, right decision. That's racing." Which highlights the split of opinion on the team orders situation throughout the spectators and Paddock.
In some ways, Bottas is out of the championship fight and should therefore sacrifice points for his teammate, who is currently leading the championship by 50 points. On the other hand, Hamilton should use his ability to fight his way to the top step of the podium instead of being gifted them by the team.
This being said, Lewis Hamilton seemed to be very modest and apologetic towards Valtteri on the podium and as soon as they got out of their cars. Hamilton instantly shook Valtteri's hand and even tried to give him the first place trophy.
Should team orders be allowed in a race situation?
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