Mercedes boss Toto Wolff: Why I may favour Lewis Hamilton over Valtteri Bottas
Bottas twice obeyed radio instructions during Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix to let the faster Hamilton through to chase eventual winner and championship leader Vettel.
“We don’t like that, at all,” said Wolff. “It’s not what we have done in the last couple of years but the situation is different now so it needs a proper analysis of what it means and where we are.”
Mercedes have never had a designated No1 driver, and Wolff said the desire was to give both men equal opportunity at the start of the race.
The team won all but two races last season but are no longer dominant in a championship that has for the past three years been an internal battle. Vettel has now won two of three races and is seven points clear of Hamilton.