Mercedes has stressed that Valtteri Bottas remains free to fight for the 2019 Formula 1 title, despite losing further ground in the championship battle.
Bottas won two of the opening four rounds to hold a slender points advantage over Lewis Hamilton, but since then has beaten his team-mate to the chequered flag just once.
In Belgium Bottas finished third, with Hamilton second, meaning the five-time champion now has a 65-point advantage ahead of the remaining eight rounds.
Max Verstappen, after his early exit in Belgium, is now 87 points behind Hamilton.
“We’re going to encourage Valtteri as we did to go flat out, without getting ahead of ourselves,” said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.
“This is still a championship that is not one, neither – not the Constructors’ nor the Drivers’.
“Both of them have been very intelligent in their driving and fighting with each other, it’s one of the strengths of the team and I’m very proud of how they do it.
“Therefore Valtteri is free to go and fight for victories and for the best possible situation in the championship.”
Mercedes limited its damage to Ferrari in the Constructors’ battle, losing only five points, meaning it still holds a sizeable 145-point advantage.
“If you would have given me a second and third in Spa, I would have taken it before the race, because we know that our package compared to the Ferraris with the straight-line speed is inferior,” he said.
“Look at Turn 1 and then the following straight, Sebastian [Vettel] can’t be more off the line than he was and he was still able to overtake us.”
