You saw what happened to Danny and Max. Nothing gained by having Hamilton and Bottas spar on a semi-dry track where, before Vetel's washout, best case you don't lose as many points in the drivers and constructor's championship. This win was as improbable as could be, so you maximize your points. No real problems with that.

And let's be honest. Hamilton is #1, Bottas is #2. It is what it is. Ham knows it. Bot knows it. MB knows it. We know it. Nobody can say it, and given another track they may have gone head up. But realistically... Bottas is not going to seriously challenge for the driver's championship this year. He has a shot at 3rd, but he's not going to outpoint Vettel, unless Ferrari's reliability falls off a cliff, or Hamilton, unless he has a year like 2016. And while Mercedes apparently likes him, he's not Lewis. So yes, he's #2 in the hierarchy. Give them both the best cars, teams, and strategy for the day, but if a call needs to be made in the heat of the race, it's likely going to go Lewis' way. I think everybody from the casual observer to the drivers to the owners understand that.

Now Ferrari's orders? I think those were a little more egregious. Again, I kind of understand (Vettel is trying to pull away from Hamilton in the points, and Kimi probably won't beat either of them in the standings), but Vettel complained to get ahead, and the team acquiesced and didn't man up and just tell Kimi to move. To his credit, Kimi called them out on it ('just tell me what you want me to do'). Even though he was in a better position for the win at that point, the call is the call. He probably won't have the seat next year, which is sad but probably a long time coming.