Why Hamilton got a slipstream from Bottas and not the other way around

After three very disappointing practice sessions, Lewis Hamilton still managed to finish a good qualifying in the streets of Baku. The British raced to second place. Toto Wolff is in conversation with Sky Sports relieved with that performance, and also somewhat with the fact that Bottas made it to Q3.

“On paper, we immediately signed up for this result in advance, certainly for Hamilton’s result. Probably also for Valtteri, but he was unlucky and could have finished in the top five,” he refers to the fact that qualifying was canceled early. ended by a crash of Yuki Tsunoda.

While the seven-time champion still managed to find his way to the top after the training sessions, Bottas lagged a bit behind. He was tenth. Wolff says afterwards that the two drivers drove with slightly different settings.

“We have two different configurations and Valtteri chose the one with more downforce and Lewis the one with less downforce. However, those settings were not very different from each other.”

Bottas did provide some extra advantage for Hamilton, by giving him a tow on the long straight. Partly because of this Hamilton was able to secure second place. The Finn couldn’t profit from anything and finished tenth. Why did Hamilton get that advantage over Bottas, Wolff is asked. According to him, there is nothing to look for.

“We have a rule within the team. We agreed on that at the start of the season. Every driver gets to decide every other weekend whether he wants to be first or second on track during qualifying. This weekend it was Lewis and Lewis’ turn. he chose to go second, so it wasn’t a big surprise.”

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