Mercedes’ non-executive chairman Niki Lauda has admitted that the team may take a different approach in the future regarding the issue of team orders between its drivers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.
Mercedes considering team orders adjustment for remainder of 2017
This follows the Hungarian Grand Prix, which saw Lewis Hamilton lose points in his championship campaign by giving up a podium finish to Valtteri Bottas on the final lap of the race. This was a result of team orders, with Mercedes allowing Hamilton to pass Bottas to see if he could challenge Kimi Raikkonen for second place. If he was able to pass Raikkonen, Hamilton would be allowed to hold onto the position, however, if he could not make the overtake, he would have to hand the position back to Bottas – something that he did ultimately do.
This is in direct contrast to the situation at Ferrari, where Sebastian Vettel is the clear number one driver while Raikkonen carries out a support role.
Toto Wolff defended Mercedes’ team orders at Hungary, but has since admitted that they may “have to adjust” its policy on the matter when talking to La Gazzetta dello Sport due to the strategy that Ferrari is employing.
Like Wolff, Lauda suggested that team orders may need to be examined in the future: “Of course we are discussing how we deal with such situations in the future,” he told the Osterreich newspaper.
A dominant 1-2 finish for Ferrari at Hungary saw the Italian team cut back its deficit to Mercedes in the Constructors’ Championship, and Lauda now believes that his team must strike back: “We were not allowed to do anything for two weeks but now our engineers are in demand,” he said. “We want to catch up with Ferrari’s advantage on the slower tracks.”
This weekend, Formula 1 heads to Spa-Francorchamps for the Belgian Grand Prix. This is a circuit that should theoretically benefit Mercedes due to its superior power unit and its traditional competitive edge on high speed circuits. “The track will suit us better than Hungary did,” confirmed Lauda.
The triple world champion also defended Hamilton after Red Bull Racing’s Dr Helmut Marko revealed that he believes that Sebastian Vettel is mentally stronger than the Briton. “That’s nonsense,” said Lauda, pushing aside the opinion. “Lewis is mentally equal to Vettel, if not better. And with Bottas we clearly have the better driver combination.”
After F1’s summer break, Vettel currently leads the Drivers’ Championship by 14 points from Hamilton. Valtteri Bottas meanwhile lies in third place, only 33 points adrift from the current leader, meaning that he is still in the championship fight with only nine races remaining this season.
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