Yes he has earned the right to be No.1 driver, and Mercedes would not be wrong to say that he was their no.1 driver. It's just pointless balls by Toto to keep up the charade of equal drivers.So I am going to be in the minority being a Lewis fan, but don’t you think he has earned the right to be the number one driver at Mercedes? In my mind, it is no different from Max at Red Bull as they have clearly built the team around him and he (Max) has seen three number two drivers come and go.
I don’t think Bottas is consistent / has made some mistakes although I do not agree with idiots sending him abusive messages. When Bottas came into the team, Lewis had already won 2 titles with Mercedes so it was going to be hard for him to become the no 1 driver ahead of Lewis.
I also think Toto is very shrewd and knew the “wingman” comment would rile Bottas and push him to be more aggressive on the track.