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The British talent, just 22 years old, replaced the coronavirus Lewis Hamilton at the Sahir Grand Prix this weekend – no way!
He was only 26 milliseconds slower in the time trial than his routine teammate Valtteri Bottas and confidently advanced to victory in the race until the Mercedes did not give a big hit on the box due to a radio problem.
Lewis Hamilton does not yet have a valid contract for 2021, but is expected to sign with the team soon. Mercedes had previously agreed to continue with Bottas.
However, watching Russell’s performance over the weekend, the question rightly arises whether there is a possibility that Will the British driver compete with Mercedes in 2021?
After the Sahirian Grand Prix, Toto Wolff was asked if it was conceivable that the hired Bottas would be replaced by Russell next year.
“He’s a Williams contestant, under contract to Williams. And our lineup is Valtteri and Lewis, “said Wolff.
“So I see this as an unrealistic situation for 2021. But I understand that it would also be an interesting situation within the team, as it could be a bit of a wild ride for all of us.”
“But maybe it will be that way in the future.”
To the question of Would you hire Russell by 2022?Wolff responded diplomatically: “George has always been a Mercedes driver. He now drives at Williams and can be proud of what he just accomplished. And now they will know that their lap times at Williams are presumably the benchmark. ”
“And we have to see what the future holds. I haven’t decided yet what that might mean for us. “
There has also been speculation in recent days that Mercedes could use Russell’s performance at the weekend in negotiations with Hamilton. even to be able to reduce the salary of the British pilot.
“They are two different things,” Wolff said. “Lewis has been with the team for 8 years and we have had great success. He is a member of the team. And I said before the weekend that no event this weekend will affect the negotiations.
“It wouldn’t be fair to him. It wouldn’t be fair to us. Because it could have turned out differently, it could have been a weekend where George couldn’t find his rhythm. And I doubt if Lewis would have said in this case that ‘wait a minute, this is an advantageous situation for me now!’ Our relationship is deeper than that. ”
By the way, Wolff told Russell before the race that I’d be happy to finish in the top 5 in the race.
“We didn’t want to set too big goals, but he overcame it. He outperformed on Friday, outperforming in time being only a few centuries behind Valtteri. And he also beat the race. ”
“He produced incredible races. He got there better from the start with a car that was too small for him, a pedal that didn’t fit in his hand. He took the lead, had a brilliant race and could have won twice. ”
“So this is not a sad day, but a day that we can learn from as a team. When we’re in a tough league fight, I don’t want the radio to crash. ”
“And we also learned that George Russell is someone we can count on in the future. It has potential, it has everything you need to be the star of the future ”.
“I’m sad about the result, but on the other hand, I’m happy with his performance.”
