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Opinion | Lewis Hamilton gifted victory in Russia
Team orders, while contentious, are entirely legal in Formula One, and it makes sense for a team to maximize championship odds by strategically helping the driver who needs it most.
“How are we going to finish the race?” asked Valtteri Bottas before the end of the Russian Grand Prix. The Finn likes this track. He has never been outqualified by a teammate here, and, last year, he started third yet stormed past both Ferraris before turn one, taking the race lead and the win. This weekend he took pole, and was cruising to his first 2018 win before Mercedes asked him to move over. He was told Lewis Hamilton had “a small blister” and the team couldn’t risk him losing position to the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel, so Bottas duly let him through.
His question was understandable. Drivers are often asked to swap places in tricky situations only to swap back later, and Hamilton was under threat no more. In fact, with Lewis gaining points over Vettel yet again — he now has an imperious 50 point lead in the championship — a blister would have to be a savage tear to count as an impediment. Disappointingly, Mercedes declared that positions would be held, thereby gifting Hamilton triumph and a handshake with Vladimir Putin.
Team orders, while contentious, are entirely legal in Formula One, and it makes sense for a team to maximize championship odds by strategically helping the driver who needs it most. Does Hamilton need it, however? At this stage, when he’s this far ahead, does he need to take 7 extra points from Bottas? Any answer will be unflattering to the British driver, blister or not.
Max Verstappen turned 21 on Sunday, and the Red Bull driver celebrated in epic fashion. He started on the last row and inhaled the cars ahead of him with a Playstation-esque aggression. In 3 laps, he went from 19th to 9th place. By lap 8, he was 5th. The day this remarkable young racer gets into a car worthy of his prodigious talent, he may be impossible to catch. As we saw at the Italian Grand Prix when he refused to let Bottas through despite being penalised, Verstappen will never take team orders quietly.
He should steer clear of Mercedes. The team has enforced orders frequently, maximising Hamilton’s chances from the start of this season. Bottas might bristle at being called wingman, but I wager Hamilton has the first-driver advantage engraved into his contract now. That would explain why team boss Toto Wolff looked so tortured and sounded so sheepish on the pit radio. We must remember Hamilton has the biggest asterisk against his legacy. Being beaten in the same machinery hurts the true greats the most. Unlike Michael Schumacher or Sebastian Vettel, Hamilton has lost a title to his teammate. Nico Rosberg beat him in 2016, and it must still rankle. During the age of Lewis Hamilton, no teammate will be allowed to compete. Even when he deserves to win.
(Raja Sen is a film critic and one of India’s longest-running Formula One columnists)
