Valtteri Bottas hinted at some hard feelings in his post-race interview. The Finn finished second in a Mercedes 1-2 and while there were no team orders on the radio, he confirmed there was a pre-plan. Hamilton's win means he only has to beat Vettel by eight points to win the championship. Another 'wingman' opportunity then?
Bottas hadn't demonstrated as much pace as last weekend but was still backing up Hamilton in second. He faced a late charge from Max Verstappen at the end and clearly felt some pressure as he was forced into a few mistakes.
Bottas told David Coulthard how he was just following a pre-made plan.
"Initially in the race, everything felt good. I was executing the plan," Bottas said.
"I had some blistering in the rears, anyway the job was for me to get to the finish line in P2."
Since then Toto Wolff confirmed Bottas is accepting his role and admits Bottas needs to work harder in the early part of the season in order to get himself in a better position.
"We spoke after the race in Sochi, and Bottas said he would like to do the same in reverse if he was winning the World Championship. Bottas admitted he needs to get himself into a better position early in the season," the Mercedes boss told Sky Sports.