Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says he still won't designate Valtteri Bottas as the team's clear n°2 behind championship leader Lewis Hamilton.
Hamilton clinched his seventh win of the season in Singapore and has drifted comfortably ahead of Sebastian Vettel in the title fight.
Bottas, who has won twice this season, has lagged his team mate lately in terms of relative performance. Yet the German outfit isn't putting its full weight behind Hamilton, at least not yet.
"I think it's clear that Lewis' chances of winning the championship are higher than Valtteri's," said Toto Wolff.
"As before, we will assess the situation, but the situation becomes clearer after every race.
"I don't want to say that one driver is the number 1, because it could affect the motivation of the second ... I mean the other, driver."
Bottas countryman and F1 commentator Mika Salo is at a loss to explain why the Finn has lost ground on his team mate.
"Yeah, Valtteri has been a bit lost," said Salo,Finnish broadcaster MTV.
"It's difficult to know the reasons -- maybe it's just been hard for him to set up the car. Or maybe it's starting to show that Hamilton is more familiar with the car concept," he added.
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