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George Russell was Mercedes’ positive surprise at the Bahrain GP, he has shown why he is considered a top talent. Anyone who is suddenly on the sidelines is Valtteri Bottas.
After the very emotional GP in Bahrain, George Russell sank into the grass and no longer understood the world. The Brit had all the bad luck that champion Lewis Hamilton saved on the track in 2020 in a race.
But Russell was able to increase its market value without hesitation. In contrast to his partner Valtteri Bottas, whose actions are in heaven.
In any case, critics have only seen him as a Hamilton accessory, as the number two, as a “winged man”, as Mercedes Motorsport boss Toto Wolff himself once put it.
“Bottas can be happy to have a contract,” Ralf Schumacher said at his Sky press conference: “This is no longer the Bottas I saw earlier in the year, it is not so aggressive anymore.”
Bottas finished eighth at the end and thus landed one place ahead of Russell, but the 22-year-old had hurt the Finns for the entire race weekend, including the race Russell could have won if not he would have returned to the pits shortly before the end. .
“Now he has to step on the gas, that’s a big blow,” said Schumacher: “A contract does not mean you have a seat in Formula 1 so safe. Maybe we will have another surprise there.”
New Sky expert Timo Glock also calls Bottas’ situation “tough.” Not only did Bottas put his hat on against Russell in Bahrain, he also hasn’t had a chance against Hamilton since he switched to the 2017 season. “He tries different ways to get even more out of himself. It hurts when you realize that you can’t do it. The weekend was back at the top, a weekend that may have broken it. He really tried everything. It’s hard to process that in your head, it will gnaw at you, “Glock said.
That’s why Schumacher says: “Mercedes has to worry, Russell deserves the opportunity. And maybe another team is with him now. “
And what does Toto Wolff say? He was added to the group and was of course asked about Russell and Bottas.
“It’s anything but easy, it puts him under immense pressure,” Wolff said of Bottas. You know what you’ve got in him, said Wolff, who emphasized the Finn’s advantages that he was in no way inferior to Hamilton on a fast lap, for example. But Wolff also noticed the change during the season.
What happened? “If only I knew”, the sports director is also lost: “I have the impression that the air runs out when the championship is lost, in which he has put everything. We need to discuss that. It has to get to the point, and that for a whole season. “
As for top talent Russell, Wolff urges patience. Bottas still has a contract for 2021, Hamilton hasn’t signed his yet, but it’s actually a formality. “Now we have to keep the ball flat,” Wolff said.
Wolff doesn’t rule out the possibility of a surprise after all: “You never know. A black swan always swims by when you least believe it. But sooner or later George will be in this car. “
