Valtteri Bottas has admitted he accepts the decision taken by his Mercedes team to swap himself and team-mate Lewis Hamilton at the Russian Grand Prix.
The Finn had led the race until he made a pit-stop for fresh soft tyres on lap 12 and continued to hold a net lead over Hamilton and Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel with Max Verstappen leading after storming through the field in the early stages on the yellow-marked Soft tyre.
On Lap 24 the order was given by Mercedes for Bottas to let Hamilton past with the potential danger of blisters on the rear tyres of the British driver and the threat of Vettel looming behind.
"Honestly I already understand the situation," Bottas told Sky Sports. "If you put yourself in the team leader’s shoes, for them it doesn’t matter if it’s me or Lewis winning as long as it’s a 1-2 and we get the maximum points.
"For the end of the year it’s only Lewis fighting for the championship, I’m not so for the team it’s always better that Lewis wins – that’s how it goes. It’s not ideal for me, as an athlete or as a person but that’s a fact.
"The only thing that matters for me now, to keep me going to the end of the year is I know that for today, I was supposed to win. I could have won the race on equal terms."
Bottas also believes his confidence has been given a boost despite having to hand the win to his team-mate, also subtly hinting he feels the moral winner of the weekend despite not taking home the winner's trophy.
"I know from this weekend I was supposed to win," he added. "I know myself I’m the winner of this weekend. I don’t have the trophy but that doesn’t matter, that’s how it is and I move on."
Ferrari rival Vettel also backed the decision made by Mercedes during the race.
