Valtteri Bottas feels Mercedes made the right decision to call team orders and halt his fight with team-mate Lewis Hamilton after the safety car restart at the German Grand Prix.
The Finn had briefly taken the lead of the race after Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel dropped his SF71-H into the gravel trap at the Sachskurve, ending his chances of winning the race. Bottas, however, had to pit and hand the lead of the race over to Hamilton.
GERMAN GRAND PRIX: Race result | Championship standings
Once the safety car had returned to the pit lane Bottas mounted a challenge on the four-time world champion with the pair going wheel-to-wheel for most of the lap before having the fight called off by the team.
Despite having his challenge reigned in by the Mercedes' hierarchy, the 28-year old still believes he can win races despite his poor luck so far in 2018.
"I would have loved to win this race, but at the moment I'm very happy for us at the team – it's a perfect result here at the home race for Mercedes in Germany," said Bottas.
"I was fighting for the win today and things started to unfold quite nicely for me towards the end of the race. But unfortunately, I was a bit unlucky as the Safety Car did not come at an ideal time for me in terms of tyre age. That's where I lost the race.
"Lewis had a great comeback and drove a mega race – probably one of his best. In the end, he was a bit more lucky with the Safety Car timing than I was. I had a good opportunity at the re-start, Lewis and I had a great, fair battle – but he managed to stay ahead. It must have been quite exciting to watch – two of the same cars fighting it out on the track.
"We decided not to pit for the Intermediate tyres; it was risky, but the team was comfortable that the rain would not last long. It turned out to be exactly the right decision, so I'm glad I trusted the team. I will keep pushing hard and I'm sure my time will come."
With the second place result, Bottas was able to jump Red Bull's Daniel Riccardo into fourth place in the Driver's Championship. Mercedes also jump Ferrari to the top of the Constructors' with a 1-2 finish.
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