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Hamilton is now 87 points ahead of his
fourth-placed team mate -- a tally equivalent to some three and
a half race wins -- with only eight rounds of the campaign
remaining.
Asked whether it was now time for Bottas to play a supporting
role, with Ferrari on the rise and the Italian team firmly
focused on Sebastian Vettel ahead of team mate Kimi Raikkonen,
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff hesitated.
"I hate to do that. It's completely against my racing instinct
and we try to be always very neutral to both drivers and we
haven't done it yet," he told reporters after Vettel won
Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix with Hamilton second.
"We haven't discussed it, let's see how Monza pans out and how
it goes and then we will address the question whether we need to
put all force behind one driver," added the Austrian, referring
to next weekend's Italian Grand Prix.
"But at the moment we owe it to the two men and to Formula One
to not interfere into the racing."
Vettel and Hamilton both have five victories this season while
their Finnish team mates have had to make do with regular podium
appearances.
Hamilton is 17 points ahead of Vettel but that advantage is in
danger of being whittled down in the coming races, with Ferrari
possibly enjoying a speed advantage at Monza and fancying their
chances for Singapore.
Wolff called Bottas a "sensational wingman" after holding off
the Ferraris while Hamilton won last month's Hungarian Grand
Prix, a description that stung the unsmiling Finn.
"First of all, wingman hurts," he said, while recognizing that
the points gap was big.
Bottas finished fourth in Belgium and now has 144 points to
Hamilton's 231. Raikkonen, who retired on Sunday, has 146 -- 68
less than Vettel, whose number one status is unquestioned.
(Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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