Bottas, a real number 2 according to Villeneuve

Jacques Villeneuve believes that Valtteri Bottas is considered at Mercedes like a second driver placed to leave the field open to his teammate Lewis Hamilton.

“Mercedes won because they kept the best engine, but only Hamilton was able to take advantage. Bottas' performance was almost embarrassing. It's a solid #2 but nothing more. I would have rather chosen Wehrlein”, commented the 1997 world champion in Auto Bild.