The 2018 Formula 1 season would be the first time Mercedes would see a challenge to its crown after four years of dominance.
A change in regulations in 2017 enabled main title rivals Ferrari to get closer, but the Mercedes power unit was still a cut above the rest. With the Halo frontal cockpit protection device making its debut, the cars were about to get heavier.
Mercedes maintained their advantage, but Ferrari’s SF71H proved to be competitive at the start of the season by taking two victories in the first three races with Sebastian Vettel.
As the season progressed, it became clear that a title battle between Vettel and Lewis Hamilton was emerging, and a further victory in Canada put the German ahead on points.
Vettel maintained the lead of the championship after the summer break, but upgrades to the Ferrari backfired and enabled Mercedes to gain ground at the Singapore and Russian Grands Prix. It was at this stage that Valtteri Bottas was given the clear instructions to play second-best to Hamilton.
Valtteri Bottas denied 2018 victory after Mercedes team orders
Although Bottas had earned six podiums by the time they reached the 16th round, Hamilton was on a dominant run of victories.
Mercedes had already used team orders at the German GP earlier in the year, which enabled Hamilton to overtake Vettel, but now they had a chance of sealing a fifth title in Sochi by going 50 points clear. Questions were asked throughout the year over whether Hamilton and Bottas had the same parity at Mercedes, but they were about to be answered.
Sochi had been a great hunting ground for Bottas over the years, after he won his first F1 race in 2017. The following year, he qualified on pole by two tenths of a second to Hamilton, but title rival Vettel was in third.
Bottas led from Hamilton at the start, but there was a clear threat from Vettel. The Russian GP is usually only a one-stop race due to the diamond-cut track surface, so once both Mercedes drivers made their one and only stop, the team ordered Bottas to move over for Hamilton.
The message was preceded by the now iconic “Valtteri, it’s James…” by chief strategist James Vowles, who requested the Finn move over for Hamilton and effectively gift him the win. After some reluctance, Bottas would obey and effectively hand the Briton a 50-point lead in the championship.
Despite the option to swap the cars back as Vettel tailed off, Mercedes held station. It was a ruthless team orders moment, and the mood was far from celebratory in the Mercedes garage.
Valtteri Bottas considered retirement after Sochi team orders in 2018
It led to a frosty atmosphere within the team, as Hamilton had already built up a big enough lead and Bottas had yet to win a race that year and demonstrated he was the faster driver after putting his car on pole.
Bottas later revealed that he contemplated retiring from F1 after the ordeal on Netflix series, Drive to Survive: “Tough to accept. I was pretty angry. Honestly I was thinking ‘Why do I do this?’. I was thinking of quitting [F1], of giving up. Straight after the race, I said I would not do it again.”
Mercedes extended their lead in the Constructors’ Championship, but it fractured the relationship between them and Bottas for the rest of the season. The Finn struggled to digest what it meant for him within the team, now that he was the clear number two to Hamilton.
“Everything just became a bit more tricky after that for the rest of the season because I realised that ‘Okay, my role is now basically just helping’ and I couldn’t really digest that. And then, yeah, I think I wasn’t in the right mindset for the rest of the year,” Bottas told the Beyond the Grid podcast.
Mercedes gave Valtteri Bottas a fair chance
Although Hamilton would go on to win the title in 2018, he would subsequently add to his championship tally in 2019 and 2020, while Bottas left Mercedes at the end of 2021.
When he was asked if he felt he had the same fair chances as Hamilton at Mercedes, Bottas replied: “I think so, yes. Honestly, I think so. And the thing is, there was some seasons that I started pretty strong.
| ENTRIES (STARTS) | WINS | POLES | PODIUMS | FASTEST LAPS | POINTS | BEST CHAMP POSITION |
| 247 (246) | 10 | 20 | 67 | 19 | 1,797 | 2nd (2019, 2020) |
“Then there was either a bit of unlucky moments or maybe I had a bad race or two. And Lewis always kept performing in a really consistent way all the time. And then once there was a bit of a gap in the points, then obviously the focus starts to shift to the car that is most likely gonna win the championship.”
The Finn left with 10 wins to his name and 20 poles, while also finishing a career high of second place in the Drivers’ Championship in 2019 and 2020.