Post by Alan BakerPost by geoffAnd equally how would you know that he was.
I don't claim to know.
We DO know that Bottas asked to use a different mode and was told not to.
Let's assume for a second there is not an unfair agenda here.
For Mercedes, the key is getting maximum points. Unless there is
outright imbalance, they don't care if it's Hamilton followed by Bottas
or vice versa.
In *no* case, however, do they want a situation where either compromises
one another or the team overall.
They know that if Bottas decides to go all-out with an agressive engine
mode, Hamilton will do the same. He has to to defend. That means that
both engines are under pressure they wouldn't otherwise be under.
Who benefits there?
If it were that Bottas was out to pass Verstappen, it might be worth the
stress, wear and tear on the engine to gain the extra points...but not
where the net benefit to the team is negative: the points would be the
same but the stress on both engines would be greater.
Better to have both team mates drive to the same modes and refuse party
mode on both where they are running 1st and 2nd.
Okay, not consider the situation where there is an unfair agenda where
Hamilton is #1 and gets preferential treatment.
Most of the above is the same. Hamilton, however, is free to run with
whatever modes he likes while Bottas is handicapped. I have heard no-one
suggest that Hamilton was running his engine more aggressively, and they
do look out for these things. It makes much more sense to assume that
the benefit of being out front in clean air and with no distractions
ahead has Hamilton in a more comfortable position which he can exploit
and - in the same car with the same mode - little that Bottas can do...
...unless he were allowed to be *more* aggressive than Hamilton, but I
go back to the question of why Mercedes would want that? If Bottas can
beat him in qualifying and/or to the first corner, that would be a more
interesting question. If we saw a difference in behaviour from Mercedes,
then I'd start to question the team position.
But we haven't seen that so far.
I see nothing to suggest that Bottas is being held back, just being
asked not to push hard on the engine modes where it's not in the team's
interests.