Lewis Hamilton has said he didn't view Valtteri Bottas as anything other than a rival when he came up behind his Mercedes teammate for position while chasing down Max Verstappen during his sprint for the win. The Finn was told not to hold up Hamilton on track, but appeared unwilling to yield too easily. He was eventually passed into Turn 10 in what looked like a serious overtaking move. Speaking after the race, Hamilton explained the situation from his perspective, saying that he had taken the approach of it being a fight for position. "I think we're the best teammates," Hamilton told media, including RacingNews365.com , afterwards. "So honestly, I didn't know that he had a message. In my mind, I was like, we're racing. And that's totally fine for me, particularly early on in this part of the season. So in my mind, I was like 'I've got to get close and go for an overtake'. "But then obviously, when we went into Turn 10, we're on massively different strategies. So I was going to get him at some stage because I had much better tyres. And we were going into Turn 10 and I thought there was a gap there, and there was, and Valtteri was completely fair with it and I didn't lose too much time. "But this is how we win as a team, sometimes we're in that position where we've got to put the team first and getting a second and a third is good, but getting the first is obviously max points. And that's key." Bottas, having not made life particularly easy to Hamilton in letting his teammate by, explained that he had been trying to ensure he didn't lose too much time as he planned on stopping again. "I got the message," Bottas explained. "And obviously, we're on a different strategy at that point, so unless something crazy would happen, it wasn't really fighting any more with him. But the thing was, at that time, I was trying to get Charles out of my pit window, so that I could stop again, and try and be ahead of him. So I was really conscious that I don't want to lose too much time. And I was really focusing on my race. So it's about balancing things. "So, of course, as a racing driver, you prioritise yourself because that's what you do. But also, we work as a team. So you don't want to ruin the win for the team, if that is possible, if it's not possible for you. "So I tried to do the best thing I could for us as a team and for myself, and it's always hard doing those kind of thing with the other driver if he predicts what's going to happen and where to go. But you know, I think in the end was kind of okay."
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