Valtteri Bottas to “make sure” team orders don’t come into play in Russia

Last time out in Russia Bottas was looking to claim his first victory of 2018 after claiming pole position and leading for the majority of the race.
 
But because of the title battle going on between Hamilton and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel at the time the Silver Arrows ordered the Finn to drop behind the Brit to help his championship lead.
 
Bottas complied with the orders, dropping down to second and was once again on the end of team orders in Singapore having to slow down before pitting to ensure he didn’t come out in front of his teammate
 
“Obviously we review everything in the finest detail with the team,” said Bottas.
 
“I was at the factory on Tuesday and we had meetings about that and that we’ll keep just for us, whatever we’ve spoken about.
 
“But we have certain rules both ways, they’re equal. That’s how it goes, but we just need to make sure I’m not going to be in that kind of situation again.”

Looking to protect his second place in the title race Bottas is confident to return to the Sochi Autodrom where he claimed his maiden F1 victory in 2017.

“For sure, it gives confidence to come into a weekend when you know previously it's been one of the good tracks for you,” he added.

“That's obviously a nice way to start the weekend, but in every case, always you start from zero.

“There’s still a big chunk of points to be had for the rest of the year, so for sure I need to keep performing and we need to perform as a team to get those bigger points.

“[But] I'm not really thinking about [the championship situation] too much; I'm thinking about my performance and our performance as a team.”