F1 | Wolff: “Discussing Bottas' position after a few races is silly”

The great victory in the Sochi GP raised the prices of Valtteri Bottas. The Mercedes driver has seen his chances of a renewal increase dramatically even beyond 2017. The Finn not only achieved the first victory of his career but also soundly beat his teammate after just four races, a result of certain prestige and value.

This put him in a position of considerable strength, partially rekindling his chances of being a valid contender for the title and not just a supporting player: “Who knows? - He said Niki Lauda – he won a race, he got his first victory, now we'll see, but I think the subsequent ones are always easier for a rider."

Palpable happiness even in Toto wolff, who however decided to see how the situation evolves before making hasty decisions: “Discussing a rider's position after a few races would be foolish. We must give him time because in the minor categories he has achieved excellent results and even in Williams there has never been a season in which he has not managed to beat his teammate”.

“Now he has become a teammate of Lewis Hamilton – continued Wolff – he got a pole position and won a race, this showed that our decision on Valtteri was right”.

The balance in the team will also be the basis for future successes: "Valtteri and Nico are very analytical and with a calm approach, but the balance between him and Lewis works well, and this dynamic is part of the success."

Manuel Lai