Lewis Hamilton controversially won the Russian Grand Prix after Mercedes switched their two drivers around halfway through the race
The world champion's team-mate Valtteri Bottas was told to make way on lap 25 of 53, triggering accusations that 'team orders' dictated the outcome
Bottas finished in second place and Sebastian Vettel third. However, Mercedes' chief strategist James Vowels came on the radio to explain away the switch moments after it had been enacted, telling Bottas: 'We had a risk with Lewis against Vettel (then effectively in third, to Hamilton's effective second)
'He has a small blister (on his tyre). I had to do this (swap them around) to make sure we secured this
' Whatever the motivation, Bottas complied with the instruction to make way, slowing down visibly as Hamilton took charge and went on to claim his 70th career win, his eighth of the season and open up a 50-point lead over Vettel with five races remaining
Talk in the build-up was how Mercedes would go about racing, given that Hamilton's error in qualifying had surrendered his likely pole position to Bottas
Would they let the pair of them race? Or choreograph the result to maximise Hamilton's chances in the drivers' championships? Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team principal, sat down with both of his star men, and top engineers, to thrash out a resolution
They kept mum in the hours between the meeting on Sunday morning and the start of the race – understandably not wishing to let their strategy out of the bag
It seemed unlikely to me that Hamilton would want to be gifted the win. That has never been his style
He has backed himself to win on his own merits. Nor is it the Mercedes way. They have allowed their cars to take each other on
But it seemed as Wolff's finger was caught by cameras hovering over a button marked 'tactics' that they had decided to sacrifice principles on the altar of pragmatism
It was moments later that Bottas's race engineer Tony Ross issued the instruction: 'You need to let Lewis by into Turn 13 this lap
' Should Bottas have so obligingly made way? Yes, as an employee he had no choice by the letter of the law, nor had he an overwhelming moral claim, for he started the race 110 points off the championship summit
Incidentally, team orders are now permitted. They left the sporting regulations in 2011
Bottas seemed to expose Mercedes' deliberate intervention, asking late on if they were going to stay in their positions
'This is how we are going to finish,' he was told by Ross. 'We'll talk after the race
' Hamilton did not have it all gifted to him, however. He had to pass Vettel after emerging from his pit stop behind the German
'Guys, how did that happen?' asked Hamilton. Vettel held off his rival's attack off at Turn 2, but Hamilton nipped through on the inside a couple of bends later
The stewards looked into Vettel's initial defence, wondering, as Hamilton had suggested over the radio, if he had moved twice – once more than is allowed
I thought that would have been a harsh judgment: it seemed one longish move. It shut Hamilton right out, and they almost touched
But it was fair, it seemed, no more than a tough racing incident. The stewards agreed, taking no further action
Max Verstappen drove brilliantly well from the back of the grid, carving this way through at the start and holding the lead for the majority of the race before eventually pitting
The Red Bull star, 21 on Sunday, finished fifth, a place behind Kimi Raikkonen in the other Ferrari
By the time Verstappen was called in – after 43 laps – President Putin had arrived to be met by a suited Bernie Ecclestone, the godfather of modern Formula One and a personal friend of the leader of the Russian Federation
They watched together from a VIP section of the grandstand, perhaps talking about the cathedral spires of England
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