{"id":2271,"date":"2017-08-30T08:08:31","date_gmt":"2017-08-30T12:08:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=2271"},"modified":"2017-08-30T08:08:31","modified_gmt":"2017-08-30T12:08:31","slug":"2271","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2017\/08\/30\/2271\/","title":{"rendered":"Niki Lauda wants to impose “number 2” status on Bottas"},"content":{"rendered":"

With only eight races remaining of 2017, Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas<\/strong> looks set to be installed into a support role for the remainder of the season, with Niki Lauda<\/strong> believing that it is time for Lewis Hamilton<\/strong> to be given the ‘number 1’ spot in the team.<\/p>\n

Niki Lauda wants to impose “number 2” status on Bottas<\/h2>\n

Prior to last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix<\/strong>, Bottas was a clear candidate for the 2017 championship. A fifth place finish however, meant that he dropped back from his rivals Sebastian Vettel<\/strong> and Lewis Hamilton<\/a>, now being 41 points adrift from the lead in the Drivers’ Championship.<\/p>\n

Although many have written off Bottas for this year’s title fight, the Finn firmly believes that he is still in the hunt<\/a>:\u00a0“There are still eight races and a lot of points left on the table,” quoted Auto Motor und Sport.\u00a0“Lewis and Sebastian have had no failures yet, and I don’t wish that on anybody — it’s just a fact. Something can always happen.<\/p>\n

“It’s up to me. I just have to be on pole position and then beat my opponents,” he added, looking ahead to this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Mercedes’ title rivals, Ferrari, operate a very different system to the Silver Arrows, and have a clear first and second driver in Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen<\/strong>. This has led to Mercedes to consider operating a similar policy for the remainder of this season.<\/p>\n

When asked about the possibility of the implementation of team orders to allow Hamilton to close up his seven point deficit to Vettel in the Drivers’ Championship, Bottas said: “I don’t think too much about it because I don’t want it to affect me negatively.\u00a0It is clear that from a certain point in the season the team must clearly put everything on one driver. But to me it seems a little bit early now.”<\/p>\n

From the point of view from Mercedes however, driver hierarchy is something that it is considering:\u00a0“You can only beat an opponent like Ferrari when everything fits,” said Toto Wolff<\/strong>.\u00a0“We do want to keep ourselves open for all the options as long as possible, and we also know that there is no manual for dealing with these problems.<\/p>\n

“Ferrari has the luxury of one driver being clearly ahead of the other, so for now we will decide on a race by race basis,” added the team boss.\u00a0“Let’s see after Monza.\u00a0It is a circuit that is good for us, but we saw at Spa that Ferrari has made progress.”<\/p>\n

Niki Lauda however, believes that it is time that Mercedes put all of its eggs in Lewis Hamilton’s basket:\u00a0“This giving away of points must stop now,” he said, referring to the Hungarian Grand Prix<\/strong> where Hamilton let Bottas through on the final lap to give the Finn a podium, honoring the team’s policy on equality.<\/p>\n

“I was champion by half a point, so I know exactly how important every single point is when you count them in the end,” he added.\u00a0“I know exactly what we need to do.\u00a0Bottas did not have a strong weekend at Spa so it is already clear that Lewis has a better chance for the championship.<\/p>\n

“If Lewis had not given away those three points in Budapest, he would now be only four points behind Vettel,” highlighted Lauda.
\nMain Photo
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>