Lewis Hamilton is at odds with his team on strategy. Photo / Supplied
With his plans set for 2022, which means driving for Alfa Romeo, Valtteri Bottas it seems is much more relaxed, and it is showing in his driving.
After it was confirmed at Monza that George Russell would replace him at Mercedes next year, Bottas has followed up his third place in Russia, with victory in the Turkish GP, his first win since winning in Russia last year.
He started this race on pole, even though Lewis Hamilton had the fastest time in qualifying, because Mercedes decided Hamilton needed to take a new engine, resulting in a 10-place grid penalty. That meant Hamilton started 11th, and eventually finished a very unhappy fifth after disagreeing with his team about the need to come in and change his intermediate tyres because he was convinced he could have been on the podium had he stayed out.
It was not dissimilar to the scenario of the team decision that gave Hamilton victory in Russia two weeks ago, when the rain came down and Hamilton changed tyres, whereas Lando Norris stayed out and lost the race. But this time there was no happy ending and it was Hamilton who missed out, while championship rival Max Verstappen, who finished second, once again leads the title race with a six-point margin over Hamilton.
Red Bull, though, are concerned at the speed demonstrated by the Mercedes pair throughout the race weekend, whereas Verstappen and his teammate Sergio Perez struggled a little, even though ultimately, both drivers ended up on the podium.
"Mercedes have been very quick this weekend," Red Bull boss Christian Horner noted after the race. "If you look at the straight-line speed of particularly Lewis today, it is 15-20km/h up after the kink on the straight. It is phenomenal and so we've got to find a bit of straight-line speed ourselves. Maybe they were running a different downforce configuration, but we've got some speed to find."
"Mercedes are extremely fast on the straights for the downforce they're using. We've been observing that since Silverstone. Something is strange there."
Horner says despite this they haven't lodged a formal protest with the FIA, but says all the teams have asked questions about the speed of Mercedes.
"It is something for the FIA to look at and for them to police, but the straight-line speed ... when you've got straight-line speed that is greater with a DRS open, that is pretty impressive," Horner added.
A few months ago Mercedes indicated it wouldn't be developing their cars any more this season, but that strategy seems to have changed with six races to go in the season.
Red Bull seems to have decided to give priority to securing a first driver's title to Verstappen rather than the Constructors' championship that manufacturer teams like Ferrari and Mercedes say is their main aim.
"It's a difficult one because you are so conflicted because the cash is with the Constructors', so for every single member of the team that is where Stefano [Domenicalli, the F1boss] pays the money out, we don't get a penny for who wins the Drivers', " Horner said.
"But the Drivers' is where the prestige is, so I would say in value they have equal value, the prestige is with the Drivers'. I think, from a Red Bull perspective, if you had to pick one over the two, you go Drivers' because that is where the prestige is. But we want to be in that No. 1 garage next year, that's our target and Sergio has got a key role to play in that, he's had a run of bad luck, but that will turn."
As indeed it did in Turkey, because Perez crucially stopped Hamilton overtaking him for what was fourth place at that time. Had Hamilton got past him, and with Charles Leclerc pitting late for new tyres, he would most likely have finished third instead of fifth.
"At that point it was just about surviving, trying to keep him behind, it was very important for our race to keep him behind," Perez explained. "It was a really enjoyable fight."
"You owe me a couple of tequilas!" Perez told Verstappen as he was being interviewed by Sky F1. "I'll get them for you in Mexico, before the weekend or after?" Verstappen quipped.
"After!" Perez replied.
Mercedes lead Red Bull by 36 points in the Constructors' championship, but you got the impression that Bottas was happy to take his first victory for himself rather than for the team as such.
"I think from my side I have to say probably one of the best races I've had ever to this date," Bottas said after recording his 10th grand prix victory. "I feel like since Monza I've been going well and had less pressure - well, there's no pressure about anything, so I can just focus on the driving and that seems to work."
"It's almost like a relief that I actually won a race this year. It's been a while, and it was not an easy win," he added, having had to obey team orders to help Hamilton for most of the year.
It has been said before, but is worth repeating, that Hamilton is a great winner, but he is not a very gracious loser.
His radio exchange with his race engineer Pete Donnington summed up his anger at losing two places in the race when he thought, as Esteban Ocon in the Alpine did to finish 10th, that he could complete 58 laps on one set of tyres.
Hamilton was told on lap 42 to "box, box" but he said the tyres were okay, so he stayed out. When he got another call to pit on lap 51, he complied.
But after returning to the track and finding out Perez and Leclerc were ahead of him, and Pierre Gasly in the Alpha Tauri was closing in on him, Hamilton was not happy.
"Why'd you give up that space?" he asked Bonnington. "We shouldn't have come in, man. Massive graining, man."
When told of the gap to Gasly, Hamilton retorted. "Leave me alone, man."
That comment is similar to one Kimi Raikkonen famously made to his race engineer at Lotus in 2012 on the way to winning the Abu Dhabi GP. When reminded that Fernando Alonso in the Ferrari was only 5 seconds behind, Raikkonen came back with a short, sharp radio response.
"Leave me alone, I know what I'm doing," Kimi said. He later had T-shirts printed with those words on them, and presented one to each team member.
Hamilton is unlikely to want to be reminded about his comment, yet alone have any T-shirts made, given he didn't win the race and may not have known what he was doing either
"I feel like I could have stayed out. My gut feeling was to stay out and that's what I should have done. So, frustrated with myself for not following my gut, umm, but I work as a team," he told Sky F1.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said he didn't think Hamilton would have made it to the end on his inter tyres, which Pirelli has confirmed was probably the case, after examining the tyres that came off Hamilton's car. "We balanced between pitting, taking it very conservative, fighting with Leclerc and Perez on the track for P3, or taking a little bit of a gamble and either winning or finishing third," Wolff explained. "Then we saw Leclerc dropping off and Lewis started dropping off and it was clear that we wouldn't make it to the end."
Obviously concerned he came across as publicly criticising the team he regularly praises as being responsible for giving him such a great car, Hamilton has taken to Instagram to explain his thoughts.
"I've seen some of the press this morning which has made a bit too much of the incident in yesterday's race of when to pit. It isn't true to say I'm furious with my team. We live and we learn. We win and lose as a team. Don't ever expect me to be polite and calm on the radio when I'm racing. Are all very passionate and in the heat of the moment that passion can come."
We will interpret that as meaning he is still fuming, but realises he needs the team firmly on his side. For Verstappen, given the pace the Mercedes had in Turkey, second place was a good result, but the next race at Austin, Texas, in the US, is a Hamilton track, so a six-point lead won't be much of a buffer.
"Overall on a weekend I think where we were off the pace compared to them [Mercedes] to come away with second here and third with Checo [Perez] as a team I think it is a great result," he told Sky F1. "But we need to find a bit more pace because six points is nothing and I wish I had a bit more pace overall, because it's going to be tough. Now we will see how it will go."
Six points separate Verstappen and Hamilton after 16 races. The lead has already changed three times. Verstappen says he won't give up, which obviously he shouldn't, because with the regulations to change considerably next year, this may be his best chance for some time to take his first championship