Have Mercedes and Toto Wolff abandoned their principles?

Valtteri Bottas' role at Mercedes has sparked heated debate among Formula 1 fans. While teams often designate a lead driver and a supporting teammate, Mercedes' recent behavior seems contradictory, as illustrated by incidents at the 2017 and 2018 Hungarian Grand Prix and the 2018 Russian Grand Prix.

The order given to Valtteri Bottas during the recent Russian Grand Prix—to let Lewis Hamilton, the only driver still in contention for the championship, win—has already sparked much debate.

Team principals and most people involved in Formula 1 seem to understand, or at least accept, this decision. However, those outside the sport find it difficult to understand why the fastest driver cannot be allowed to win. Yet F1 is a team sport, and many factors other than simple sportsmanship are just as important, if not more so. Team orders and the sacrifice of a second driver for the benefit of the leading car have long been part of the sport, with acceptance varying over time. No one was shocked in 1956 when Peter Collins gave up his car to Juan-Manuel Fangio, but the FIA took issue with Rubens Barrichello deliberately braking at the finish line of the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix to let Michael Schumacher win, resulting in a brief ban on team orders, which ultimately failed.

Since the ban was lifted, teams have used these orders sparingly and often openly. Recently, Mercedes highlighted its values of sportsmanship at the 2017 Hungarian Grand Prix, when Bottas let Hamilton pass him on lap 45 to catch up with the two Ferraris ahead of him. In the final corner of the last lap, Hamilton gave his position back to Bottas, and team principal Toto Wolff defended the decision: “If we lose the championship by three points, everyone will point the finger at Budapest. In the long run, our principles and values will bring us more titles, that's what I believe.”

This philosophy seemed to change quickly. At the 2018 Hungarian Grand Prix, Bottas protected Hamilton from Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari by pitting early and slowing his pace by several tenths to block the German, but Hamilton overtook the Finn in the final laps when his soft tires lost their effectiveness.

Wolff's comments to Canal+ after that race were a little embarrassing for Bottas: “We had to see how the start went and if we were in first and second position. Protecting our positions was an option. We would have done the same thing the other way around. Valtteri did a sensational job, a lieutenant as you would expect, when it mattered most. ” These remarks hurt Bottas more than the race itself and gave him a glimpse of what he could expect from Mercedes for the rest of the season. That expectation was confirmed a few weeks later in Sochi, when Bottas was ordered to pull over on lap 25 and let Hamilton take the win. Wolff was criticized and defended himself: “Sometimes someone has to play the bad guy, and this time it was me. Would I rather be the bad guy on Sunday night for a multitude of reasons, or the idiot in Abu Dhabi? I'd rather be the bad guy in Sochi than the idiot at the end of the year. ” He had said the same thing a year earlier, but this time the stakes were different. In 2017, Hamilton was 14 points behind Vettel and far from assured of the title; in 2018, he left Russia with a 50-point lead and the championship seemed all but won. So did Mercedes doubt its chances of winning the title in 2017, or does it feel much more vulnerable in 2018, to the point of abandoning the values it espoused a year earlier? Wolff said the decision came down to timing: “In Budapest, we said, ‘If he can't get past Räikkönen, we'll swap seats again,' and I wanted to keep my word. But that was in the middle of the season. Here we are in Sochi, at the end of the season.” From a mathematical point of view, this decision makes perfect sense, but from the point of view of sporting ethics, it undermines the principles espoused by Mercedes a year earlier. This time, rationality prevailed over values, and some will question this choice. As Wolff said: “We all want to see the best driver win, but sometimes we also have to be rational. A win is still a win, and Lewis now has a 50-point lead.”