Valtteri Bottas's Russian GP win was a just reward, but far from an emphatic response to his naysayers

Such is the extent of Mercedes dominance this year that after the Russian Grand Prix both drivers created enemies where none existed.

When quizzed about his — albeit slightly unusual — double penalty for practicing starts outside of the designated area twice, Hamilton suggested a minor conspiracy.  With a straight face, he said that the stewards deliberately penalised him. He was asked if he thought his two five-second penalties – which he called “ridiculous” – were excessive. “Of course it is,” he said. “But it's to be expected. They're trying to stop me, aren't they?”. It is a ludicrous suggestion, but he is perhaps feeling persecuted after a string of infringements in the last 12 months, some by him and some by his team.

And despite winning the race, Valtteri Bottas shot back with his now customary “to whom it may concern, f--- you” victory message to those that tell him he should “not bother” or “give up”. He has his critics — and he responded directly to some on his social media accounts this weekend — but this is still a bit of a stretch and it was quite un-Bottas. Nobody with any sense thinks he is a poor driver or that he should jack it in. Not a patch on Hamilton, true, but who is? His response smacked of a man a little low on confidence, in the best car but without a win since round one, who has to line up alongside one of the all-time greats every weekend and who has failed to take his most recent chances.

This was hardly a drive for answering critics. There was no real battle with Hamilton, the man who he is struggling to beat. His qualifying performance was by far his worst of the season, all considered, nearly 0.7s away from the quickest time and after Hamilton had one of his messiest sessions. On Sunday, once the 10-second time penalty was confirmed, all Bottas had to do was keep his black car on the black stuff. Max Verstappen did not have the pace in the Red Bull to trouble him.

The race should have been the Finn’s anyway, with Hamilton starting on the far inferior soft compound tyre, meaning the Briton would have to stop earlier and run a longer second stint. It is a shame that we were robbed of an interesting strategic fight (and perhaps even an actual on-track one) between two Mercedes drivers on unusually divergent strategies.

In the end, Hamilton was 23 seconds behind. The extra 13 seconds may have even been too much for Hamilton to make up. That would have been a better way to win, however, but when your team-mate is a man with 96 poles and 90 Grand Prix victories, you should take whatever you can. Bottas has driven far better races than this and not won or even not scored points.

Another tick in the Grand Prix victories column does not feel undeserved and begrudging him victory here seems churlish. Bottas is a likeable fellow and misfortune is an occasional but persistent theme in his time at Mercedes. In 2018 he was on course for victory in Baku but suffered a late puncture. A late safety car scuppered his chances the race before, in China. He then had to hand away certain victory in Russia to help his team-mate’s title chances.

This year he finished outside of the points at the British Grand Prix after a tyre blowout when Hamilton was able to limp home for the win. In an alternative reality he would be a few points closer to Hamilton this year — and with a few more career victories — and any talk of a title challenge would not be quite so fantastical. We could at least pretend that, with a bit of bad luck for Hamilton, Bottas could take him to the wire.

Lining up alongside the six-time world champion must be a grind and it must be especially galling to think you have him beaten — how difficult and rare that is — only for the advantage to disappear. Still, there has been good fortune, with Hamilton’s penalties in Austria and Italy. Bottas has not been able to take advantage of it all, getting stuck impotently in the midfield at Monza as Hamilton slipped to the very back of the pack. At Mugello two weeks ago he aced his start from second to take the lead, only for numerous yellow and red flags to disrupt his progress. He was left scratching his head at the end, wondering what he had to do to claim another victory in 2020. As it turned out, very little.

It must have been even sweeter for Bottas to take his ninth Grand Prix victory at a track where he took his first and also the same location where he was ordered to move aside for Hamilton in 2018. This denied him victory in what turned out to be a winless and troublesome season. Make no mistake, bad luck has not kept Bottas from sustaining a genuine title challenge, but his figures would be improved had his fortune been better.

The victory does not change the narrative – or perhaps more accurately the reality — of Bottas as a fine driver, but far from a match for Hamilton. In 2020 he has won two races to Hamilton’s six. This is roughly in line with their totals since they were paired at Mercedes: in 72 races Hamilton has won 37 to Bottas’s nine. These are not the numbers of a genuine rival.  Still, he's a much closer team-mate than some others; on Sunday Alexander Albon, Sebastian Vettel and Esteban Ocon were all hugely outshone by their team-mates in the comprehensive way they have been all season.

Bottas’s showing this year is proof that he is the perfect man for Mercedes to have alongside Hamilton. Close enough to push but not to truly challenge, team harmony not a threat. He might try and use this victory as a motivator, but it does not tell us anything we do not know. Reducing the championship gap to 44 points with seven rounds left means there is just about enough time for Bottas to truly prove his critics wrong. Over to you, Valtteri.