Toto Wolff rejects Valtteri Bottas’ claims of leaving Mercedes

Toto Wolff rejects Valtteri Bottas’ claims of leaving Mercedes

Toto Wolff

In the most recent episode of Drive to Survive- Formula 1, Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas gave an insight to the fans about his mindset after the race in Russia in 2018 campaign. However, Toto Wolff gave his opinion on that matter and called the Finn Driver’s statement as bluff, yet acknowledged that the former was indeed very sad after the incident and went onto compare him with Nico Rosberg. 

To be precise Wolff said, “But I didn’t think he was close to retirement because he’s too competitive to do that. But with the anger of the situation, you don’t understand what he said after the race.” 

Bottas is yet to perform the ultimate trick that Rosberg did, i.e. to defeat Hamilton. Perhaps that’s why the Finn usually gets so much stick from his critics. However, one must admit that he has been a great team player and has played a vital role in helping the team win their last 4 championships. 

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What did Toto Wolff say? 

Wolff accepts Mercedes F1’s strategy call was tough to make but it had to be done 

Reflecting on the team’s strategy that day, Wolff said, “Making this decision is a disastrous for all of us then. But I think this was necessary because Sebastian was approaching. Bottas was leading this train, and Lewis Hamilton was stuck in between. I can imagine how bad this would be for him.” 

However, Toto also called out Valtteri for his attitude and behavior following that result. He compared the Finn’s thought process to that of his predecessor, Nico Rosberg. 

Wolff said, “Valtteri works not just like Nico but also very differently. He still has a desire to approach Lewis and beat him, but he thinks of it in his own way. 

“It’s all about your own performance and expectations, it’s different from being politically powerful. Nico was strong in that way. You have to admit it without jealousy.” 

Also Read: “Can’t Really Focus on Driving”: Sebastian Vettel