Toto Wolff has explained why he made a rare appearance on team radio to speak to Valtteri Bottas during the Portuguese Grand Prix. The Mercedes team principal was heard giving the Finn encouragement and telling him that he was the fastest man on track as he tried to chase down Max Verstappen. It is unusual for Wolff to do this, and he has admitted that he enjoyed getting involved. "We discussed it," Wolff told RacingNews365.com and other select media when asked whether Bottas had previously requested that Wolff use the radio. "I enjoy it also because I'm so passionate about things that having a release live to Valtteri, I thought works well." Despite the positive intent, Bottas struggled to make gains after Wolff's message and the team boss has jokingly suggested that maybe he should keep quiet in the future. "It actually didn't work well this time, so I maybe need to shut up next time, or at least discuss with him," Wolff said. On the topic of whether he feels that Bottas needs this kind of support, Wolff feels that Bottas' recovery from his huge crash with George Russell in Imola shows his mental strength. "I don't know. I need to speak to him again," the team principal explained. "He's mentally strong, when you see how he recovered from last weekend. And yeah, he was really catching up [to Verstappen in Portugal]. He was hunting him down. "But when I came on the radio, it kind of flatlined. Maybe not in the future anymore." Wolff thinks there were many positives to Bottas' performance in Portugal, despite the Finn slipping from first place down to third during the Grand Prix. "All in all, I think like many times it could have worked for Valtteri and we will push him hard and continue to support him, and next time we see what he is capable of doing in Barcelona."
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