Ex-Formula One driver Jolyon Palmer insists he understands why Mercedes chief Toto Wolff keeps Valtteri Bottas. The Finn has been alongside Lewis Hamilton for four years now and enters into his fifth year with Mercedes with a string of second-place finishes in the driver's standings. "If Bottas had been asked to give up a win on Sunday then I’m sure there would be some question marks again, and maybe he wouldn’t have obliged at all. But this call from Mercedes helped Hamilton to win the race, at no cost to Bottas – he was pretty set in third whatever happened," Palmer told Formula1.com. "Bottas has been retained by Mercedes for four years now, and that is because Toto Wolff clearly appreciates his value as a second driver - being quick enough to help so often and even win when Hamilton isn’t on top form. "The contrast to the Red Bull second driver situation has been clear over the last few seasons, and was again on Sunday as Bottas at least fell within the pit stop window of the leaders at the final stop, unlike [Sergio] Perez. "Despite being held up by [Charles] Leclerc early on, he had the pace to stay only 10 seconds adrift for much of the race. "But in Barcelona, you could argue Bottas was actually more helpful to Verstappen than Hamilton in the Grand Prix. Hamilton winning has meant Mercedes can gloss over the fact, but if he had narrowly missed out, there would have been a serious fallout from the situation."
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