Valtteri Bottas has made it clear he won't be asking for or accepting any favours from Mercedes after he moved aside for Lewis Hamilton during the Russian Grand Prix on Sunday.After what has been a tough 2018 season with poor luck intervening on several occasions, the Finn was back at his best as he beat his teammate to pole position on a circuit in Sochi where he has always excelled.Well aware of the possibility that team orders could be used, however, as Hamilton looks to secure a fifth world title, when the call was eventually made for Bottas to let his Mercedes partner through on Lap 25, it still caused plenty of controversy and division among fans even if the reasoning made perfect sense.With one lap to go and still with the threat of Sebastian Vettel in third, Valtteri made the rather hopeful enquiry as to whether he would be allowed to re-pass Lewis for the win, with a firm no being the response.The result was a downbeat atmosphere on the podium with Hamilton trying to make amends by offering Bottas the top step of the podium and the trophy, but the disappointment of the 29-year-old was clear.“For sure we always go through all the scenarios, all the facts,” he was quoted by Crash.net. “Lewis is fighting for the championship and we’re fighting for the constructors’ championship.“We always have a plan but today… It’s always difficult to predict what is going to happen in the race, how it’s going to go… but it is what it is.

“I don’t want to talk about what we speak inside the team before the race, it’s between us, but it was a little bit of a confusing situation.

“Still, it’s our own thing what we discuss inside.”

In the press conference, it was put to Bottas whether he would accept Hamilton repaying his actions in Sochi by allowing him to take a victory once the championship had been decided.

“No, I think it’s more fun if we race each other,” he replied.

In the mind of Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff, he admits what the decision he and chief strategist James Vowles took was largely unpopular but insists he was the right and necessary one.

“Somebody needs to be the baddie sometimes, and it’s me today,” he said.

“You need to weigh it up. What do I opt for, to be the baddie on Sunday evening, or do I want to be the idiot in Abu Dhabi at the end of the season?

“I’d rather be the baddie today than the idiot at the end of the year.”