Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has shot down suggestions that Valtteri Bottas’ hopes were disregarded in order to help Lewis Hamilton during qualifying in Azerbaijan, explaining the team’s tactics.
Mercedes struggled for one-lap performance throughout the weekend at the Baku City Circuit and regularly opted for two warm-up laps in qualifying.
Hamilton managed to top Q1 and classified third in Q2 while Bottas was not in contention for the front-running positions.
Hamilton ran behind Bottas through their first Q3 push laps, assisting the Briton’s straight-line speed along the lengthy full-throttle section that leads to the finish line.
That effort lifted Hamilton onto the front row of the grid, behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, while Bottas was left at the foot of the top 10.
Bottas attempted to get a tow from Leclerc for his final Q3 lap but the red flag brought the session to a premature conclusion.
“Since the beginning of the joint journey [with] Valtteri and Lewis, we toss a coin, who would have the choice if he’s running first the second [on the road],” said Wolff.
“And this weekend it was Lewis’ turn to choose whether he runs first or second on the road and he chose second obviously. So this is the same system. It alternates from race to race between the drivers.”
Bottas’ display marked his worst one-lap showing since joining Mercedes at the start of 2017.
Mercedes ran slightly different rear wing specifications during qualifying but Wolff downplayed suggestions that it wound up proving critical to Bottas’ fortunes.
“I don’t think it was a big disparity today,” he said. “Tomorrow it might have a slight effect.
“The difference was that the car was very tricky all weekend and somehow Lewis found the confidence for qualifying and Valtteri struggled. I think on a circuit like this one, that is important.
“You can see that in Monaco Valtteri had it, and was feeling fine. So the rear wing doesn’t explain any of the differences.”
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