Bottas hopes Mercedes team orders aren't 'too harsh'

Valtteri Bottas hopes Mercedes will not be "too harsh" when applying team orders to assist Lewis Hamilton's title bid. The Finn is likely to be deployed as Hamilton's rear-gunner after the Italian Grand Prix as Mercedes try to overcome the pace advantage held by Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel.

Bottas has not won a race in 2018 and slipped 87 points off Hamilton atop the standings at the Belgian Grand Prix as he finished fourth.

Team principal Toto Wolff has confirmed that the team may begin to limit Bottas' ambitions more after Monza, with Hamilton facing the prospect of seeing his 17-point championship lead shortened in Italy, where Ferrari are favourites.

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"For sure it will be different, in terms of how you approach the weekend, but I think the team would still support both of us a lot," Bottas said. "If I would have the pace to win a race, by pure speed, if I'm about to win a race, it's up to the team to look at the situation.

"I don't think, in any way, I would completely lose the freedom to win the race if I'm able to do so. It depends on the situation: if there are clear points or way to avoid me or Lewis to lose points, we'll see how to do it.

"It will always depend on the situation and I do trust the team that they have respect for both drivers and won't do anything too harsh."

Ferrari have moved ahead of Mercedes in the power stakes, and Bottas says their newfound standing as second-best is inspiring the Silver Arrows.

"It definitely hasn't changed the dynamics in the team," he said. "That's actually motivating us even more than before, knowing that we need to work hard, we need to improve because we want to win.

"It's not like this wasn't the case before, but when the team had the best car we set our own targets for how much we needed to improve every race. Now the goal is simpler: a quicker car and a quicker team."