Pole-sitting Bottas dismisses idea of Mercedes team orders

Valtteri Bottas says having secured pole position for the Russian Grand Prix ahead of Lewis Hamilton he will solely focus on a first Formula 1 race win of the season and won’t be interested in Mercedes' team orders to help his teammate in the drivers' world title fight.

The Finnish driver produced a surprise by taking pole position ahead of teammate Hamilton, who made vital mistakes on his own Q3 laps, to set-up the intriguing prospect of leading his fellow Mercedes driver while the British driver fights for the F1 world drivers’ championship.

Quizzed on the prospect of team orders to prioritise Hamilton, something Ferrari opted against at the Italian Grand Prix in similar circumstances when Kimi Raikkonen claimed pole position ahead of Sebastian Vettel, Bottas is adamant his squad won’t use orders given its dual fight in the F1 world constructors’ championship against Ferrari.

Mercedes lead the teams’ standings by 37 points from Ferrari, while Hamilton holds a 40-point advantage over Vettel at the top of the drivers’ championship.

“My approach to the race tomorrow is definitively to try and win the race – you cannot have any other goal starting from pole,” Bottas said. “It’s just going to be the aim. As a team we’re fighting for both championships. Lewis is leading the championship by quite a gap to Sebastian and a very big gap from me, so we have to keep those things in mind.

“My approach, starting the race, is trying to win, but we’ll see how it goes.”

Reflecting on his Q3 performance, Bottas was left ‘shaking’ after securing his first pole position since the Austrian Grand Prix as he looks for an overdue victory.

“It was a nice lap in the end and I also managed to improve a bit,” he said. “I don’t know what happened with Lewis’s as he aborted his lap, but it feels good I’ve still got a bit of shakes, it takes some concentration.”

Bottas last claimed victory at the 2017 F1 finale at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.