Hamilton would have raced Ferrari harder than Bottas

Lewis Hamilton confirmed he would have been much less forgiving at the start of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix had he been battling Sebastian Vettel or Charles Leclerc rather than Valtteri Bottas. After getting up the inside of Bottas at Turns 1 and 2, Hamilton ceded ground to his team-mate and ultimately finished second to him.

As the Baku City Circuit's usual craziness subsided this year, Bottas' resistance at the start proved to be crucial as Hamilton ran out of time late in the race to put the pressure on the Finn.

As a result of his win, Bottas leads the drivers' championship by a single point from Hamilton.

Although Hamilton did not shy away from battling his teammate, he admitted things reached a point where he had to take action that he may not have in another scenario.

He said: "Ultimately you always have to remember when you're in a team as big as this that you are only one, and there are so many people that depend on us.

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"Selfishly I could have for sure pushed a lot harder and Valtteri would have lost position, maybe I would have gained position, most likely he would have got overtaken by a Ferrari or something like that, so we have to work together.

"So whilst I wanted to overtake him, I had to be cautious at the same time, to give him space so that we would block the front row and stay there.

"Ultimately I lost out in that, but that's a sacrifice you have to sometimes make in order for the team to win.

"I think if it was a Ferrari there it would have been a lot different.

"And that will be how it continues for the rest of the year - I think Valtteri and I have always had a lot of respect for each other, and we continue to do so. I think you can see that.

"That's how we deal with it - we discuss it before the race, we agree as gentlemen, and we stick to it."

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