Quote:
Originally Posted by F1Pete
Team orders for sure. Merc wanted to maintain second and third positions incident free.
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I suspect Bottas was maybe as quick or slightly quicker at the end than Hamilton, but even if he was given the go ahead to pass Hamilton, I didn't see him being able to catch and pass Vettel. And who had the pace at that point between the two is speculation. At the moment, I believe these cars may prove to be hard to pass when the speed differential between them is small.
But... I can imagine that both drivers were instructed to hold position. I think who was the leading Mercedes driver likely had little impact. So if the roles were reversed, I expect the result would have been the same. Finish in that position to guarantee points and podium for both drivers.
To early in the year for heavy handed team orders.
Richard