Wolff may need to "shut up" over future Bottas radio calls
Wolff may need to "shut up" over future Bottas radio calls
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff believes he may have to curb his enthusiasm in future when it comes to delivering motivational in-race messages to Valtteri Bottas.
On rare occasions, Wolff has taken to the F1 team's radio in a bid to fire up Bottas, and he chose to do so again during Sunday's Portuguese Grand Prix.
With the Finn in pursuit of second-placed Max Verstappen in his Red Bull, Wolff allowed his enthusiasm to get the better of him as he said over the radio: "Hunt him down Valtteri! You're the quickest car!"
Bottas' progress, however, stalled and was ultimately compounded by a sensor issue that dropped him out of the hunt for second place to team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
Asked why he had taken to the radio at that time, Wolff replied: "We discussed it, and I enjoy it because I am so passionate about things that having a release valve to Valtteri I thought works well.
"It actually didn’t work well this time so I maybe need to shut up next time or at least discuss with him.”
Bottas has endured a tough start to this season, notably in Imola where he was off the pace in qualifying and the race before being involved in an accident with Williams' George Russell.
In Portugal, after losing the lead to Hamilton following a brilliant move around the outside of turn one from the seven-time champion, Bottas was later passed by Verstappen after Red Bull executed the undercut pit-stop.
Questioned as to whether Bottas needs such support over the radio, Wolff added: “I don’t know. I need to speak to him.
"He is mentally strong. When you see how he recovered from last [Imola] weekend, he was really catching up, he was hunting him down.
"But when I came on the radio it kind of flatlined, so maybe not in the future anymore.”
Related
Change your timezone:
Latest News
F1 News Today: McLaren boss keen for stunning REUNION as Horner BLAMED for Newey nightmare
- 4 minutes ago
F1 Miami Grand Prix weather forecast - latest today
- 1 hour ago
F1 rival makes stunning Hamilton 'best' claim despite poor form
- 2 hours ago
F1 star emerges as SHOCK target for Audi
- 3 hours ago
Hamilton F1 rival makes astonishing admission with Verstappen claim
- Today 11:57
McLaren boss keen for stunning Alonso REUNION
- Today 10:57
Related news
Mercedes reveal shock RED livery to celebrate historic milestone
Verstappen 'to meet Mercedes over SHOCK 2025 move as Red Bull exit clause revealed'
BLOW for former F1 champion as Mercedes preferences revealed
Mercedes star tipped to replace struggling driver THIS season
F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
About GPFans
GPFans is a multi-platform, multi-language brand dedicated to Formula One coverage. We bring you all the ins and outs of the sport, 24/7, everything from up-to-the-minute news and features to the latest viral stories and clips.We believe that a new generation of exciting, outspoken drivers will make F1 more popular than ever before, and we want to give our users access to as much of their heroes as possible, on and off the track. From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo to Sebastian Vettel, we provide in-depth analysis of every every Grand Prix in the season, from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
With Formula One under the new ownership of Liberty Media, how the sport is being covered is evolving, and GPFans will look to be at the heart of this progression into new media, as one of the fastest-growing sites covering the king of motorsports.
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Corporate & Media
Innovatieweg 20C7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31645516860