Liberty Media understands Mercedes' choice

The image of Valtteri Bottas fading away in favor of Lewis Hamilton during the Russian Grand Prix will remain as one of the defining images of the 2018 season. An internal decision Mercedes which caused a lot of ink to be spilled and provoked the discontent of many fans of the discipline.

But a decision which remains understandable according to Ross Brawn, Motor Sports director of Liberty Media, who highlights his personal experience, notably during the time of Ferrari.

“I believe that the decision of the German team was the right one, Brawn says. The main goal of a team is to achieve the best possible result for both championships and that is what they did.

I have often found myself in this situation in the past and personally, I have always believed that the collective interest of the team comes before that of an individual driver.

This may not be easily accepted by fans, nor look good for the sport, and this is where the team must judge the circumstances and make their decision. I can understand the frustration of Bottas, who had a great weekend, showing how much the Sochi track suits him, but team instructions are part of sport.

Additionally, it is always better to apply them transparently, rather than trying to hide it, which we have seen sometimes in the past, resulting in accusations of cheating. It's not the most attractive aspect of our sport, but it's always been a part of it, good or bad, and it's better to have it out in the open. »

What about the rules?

Questioned yesterday in Paris during the French Grand Prix press conference F1, on a possibility of seeing a modification of the regulations, Chase Carey, general director of the discipline, rather puts forward the same argument as Ross Brawn

"I'm not going to speculate on the regulations, the American told us. I understand the concerns. We want competition on the track that is best for the fans, but we also know that this sport is an individual competition for the drivers and a team competition for the manufacturers.

This is not new. That doesn't mean we don't watch what's going on. This is a point of debate. »