Formula 1 chief Ross Brawn believes Mercedes made the correct call in moving Valtteri Bottas aside so Lewis Hamilton coul🐓d win the Russian Grand Prix and strengthen his title bid.

Mercedes instructed polesitter Bottas to allow his teammate past at mid-distance in Sochi, setting Hamilton up for a controversial victory that enabled the Briton to open 🍎up a 50-point advantage over title rival Sebastian Vettel.

But Brawn, who was a key figure in Ferr💖ari’s dominance of the sport in the early 2000s – a period in which the Scuderia employed teamꦅ orders on numerous occasions to support Michael Schumacher – backed his former team’s decision.

"I reckon the German team's decision was the right one," Bra♈wn explained. "The primary aim for a team is to get the best possible result for both championships, and that's what they did.

"I have found myself in this situation many times in the past and personally, I always believed the collective interest of the team comes before that🍬 of an individual driver."

Had Bottas - who was all but out of title contention heading into the race - gone on to claim his first victory of 2018, Hamilton🎐’s points lead would have been 43 instead of 50, ꦕwhich now effectively provides him with a two-race buffer over Vettel with five rounds remaining.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said he would rather be viewed as the 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:“baddie” now than the “idiot” at the end of the year, arguing the team would have looked fool🍒ish not to take the chance to boost Hamil𝓀ton’s hopes of securing a fifth world title.

Brawn agreed with Mercedes’ viewpoint, adding he was pleased to see the team be open in its approach after th🔯e🀅 race.

"In may not be easily accepted by the fans, nor look good fဣor the sport, and that is where the team have to judge the circ🌳umstances and make their decision,” he said.

“I can understand Bottas' frustra🔯tion, as he had a great weekend, demonstrating how well the Sochi track suits him, but team-orders are part of the sport.

"Also, it's always better to apply them in a transparent manner,🌌 rather than trying to hide it, something we have seen sometimes in the past, which raised accusations of deception."