Bottas plays down Wolff’s ’wingman’ comment

Valtteri Bottas his hit reverse gear after reacting angrily to the suggestion he is Lewis Hamilton’s ’wingman’.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff used the ’wingman’ description while praising the Finnish driver for finishing second behind Lewis Hamilton in Hungary.

"First, wingman is wrong," Bottas told the Finnish broadcaster MTV.

"Secondly, I don’t see the positive from this race." As for Wolff’s ’wingman’ comment, Bottas said: "We’ll have to talk."

Wolff responded by saying it was a normal misunderstanding that occurs before driver and team can sometimes get together.

"We have no number 1 and number 2. I was just talking about his race. Perhaps the word wingman doesn’t do it justice, but he drove a sensational race and helped Lewis to extend his lead," he said.

On social media, Bottas calmed down his own reaction, saying a meeting specifically to talk about the ’wingman’ comment is not necessary.

"I was disappointed with my result and saw everything in a negative way for a moment. I know what he meant," Bottas clarified.

"We are on equal terms and I trust the team 100pc on that."

But to reporters, Bottas admitted that he might eventually need to play the team game and openly support Hamilton.

"We are halfway through the season and the points difference is big, but of course the team will make a decision at some point," he said.