Bottas dismisses suggestion of Mercedes team orders

Valtteri Bottas says he will go all out to win the Russian Grand Prix, dismissing the notion of Mercedes team orders favouring Lewis Hamilton's title fight with Sebastian Vettel. Bottas led a Mercedes front-row lockout in Sochi on Saturday, with Vettel half a second adrift in third.

Hamilton has a 40-point lead in the drivers' championship with six races to go, while Mercedes lead Ferrari by 37 points in the team standings.

Bottas is 110 points down on Hamilton's haul and has already conceded his title hopes are over for the year, with Mercedes having utilised the Finn to aid Hamilton already this year in Hungary and Italy.

However, the Finn does not expect to have the chance of winning the race taken away from him.

"My approach to the race tomorrow is definitively to try and win the race – you cannot have any other goal starting from pole," Bottas said.

"It's just going to be the aim. As a team we're fighting for both championships. Lewis is leading the championship by quite a gap to Sebastian and a very big gap from me, so we have to keep those things in mind.

"My approach, starting the race, is trying to win, but we'll see how it goes."

Bottas has never been outqualified by a team-mate at Sochi – a record he managed to hold onto as he suddenly hit top form in Q3.

"It feels good. I've still got a bit of shakes, it takes some concentration but it's fine," he said.

"Maybe I don't look like it but I'm really happy for sure! But it's only the first step in this weekend.

"It's a massively long run from the start line to turn one so it's going to be important to keep the position."

MORE: Bottas upsets Hamilton to take Sochi pole
MORE: Vettel eyes chance of Russia win
MORE: Hamilton happy for Bottas after qualifying shock