Wolff uneasy over “tricky decision” to let Bottas and Hamilton race

Mercedes Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff says his team faces a “tricky decision” over letting its drivers Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton race each other in the Russian Grand Prix.

Bottas claimed his second pole position of the season at Sochi, outpacing teammate Lewis Hamilton as Mercedes achieved a front-row lock-out.

With the Ferrari duo a distant third and fourth on the grid, it provides Hamilton with another opportunity to further strengthen his advantage over Sebastian Vettel in the drivers’ championship - which he currently leads by 40 points.

And Wolff admitted he feels uneasy about letting his drivers battle it out on track with both world championships on the line.

Asked if Mercedes will allow its drivers’ to race, Wolff replied: “I’m not sure. I think it was important for Valtteri to bounce back in the way he did today in qualifying and regain some confidence.

“But we are not in a part of the season where I would particularly enjoy two Mercedes racing each other in the front, as much as I hate to say that as a race fan. But you need to calculate a little bit more at that stage.”

Mercedes has been keen to avoid using team orders where possible throughout the V6 hybrid era, though it did instruct Bottas to hold station behind Hamilton in order to protect a 1-2 finish at its home race in Germany.

Wolff stressed the racing driver inside him has reservations about using Bottas in a supporting role, particularly following the Finn’s performance in qualifying that has put him in prime position to take a much-needed first victory of the season.

“None of us actually like it [team orders], because we’ve seen in the past from other teams, and we had the discussion with Nico [Rosberg] and Lewis,” he explained.

“Lewis wouldn’t want it because he wants to give it a go on his own, and Valtteri wouldn’t want it because he needs that win that he didn’t have this year.

“So it’s a very tricky decision to make, and we will be discussing that tomorrow morning with both of them, and as always, come to a solution with buy-in of everybody.”

Bottas, who sits 100 points adrift of Hamilton in the championship, is convinced Mercedes will opt against using team orders.