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Toto Wolff, 48, can imagine a purely British driver teaming up with record champions Hamilton and Russell at Mercedes. Valtteri Bottas is under pressure, his performances have been moderated recently. Wolff sees an “interesting situation”.
Bad luck prevented the British George Russell from winning the first Grand Prix. “We have learned that George Russell is someone who can be trusted in the future. He has the potential and everything a future star needs,” Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff emphasized at Sakhir on Sunday. Russell had previously represented Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton, who was lost after a positive corona test, at Mercedes in the penultimate round of the World Cup in Bahrain.
In qualifying, the 22-year-old, who is actually a regular driver for the lagging team Williams, was just 56 thousandths behind Finn Valtteri Bottas in the second Mercedes. In the race, Russell was in the lead for the longest time. Only a mistake in the Mercedes area and a puncture at the finish line returned Hamilton’s substitute to ninth place.
Bottas, who has been driving for the German official team since 2017, knows that next year could be the last for Mercedes. Because Wolff already indicated in Bahrain that in the future, record champions Hamilton and Russell, two Brits could drive for the constructors’ world champions. “It would be an interesting situation to have them both on the team and maybe a bit of a wild ride for all of us. But maybe we will both have them in the future,” said the 48-year-old Viennese.
