“It’s game over”– Valterri Bottas’ time at Mercedes has come to an end according to Finnish compatriot

“It’s game over”– Valtteri Bottas’ association with Mercedes is ticking away as the Silver Arrows are setting eyes on bringing George Russell.

After the nine races into the season, Mercedes is reportedly convinced that maybe it’s time to call up George Russell into the main setup in 2022.

This means it could lead to Valtteri Bottas’ exit from Mercedes, with Lewis Hamilton already signing a tw0-year-long contract extension with the Silver arrows.

“It’s game over,” Toni Vilander told broadcaster MTV. However, Vilander believes that Mercedes will not be making the announcement soon for their own interests, despite the drivers asking for an early decision.

“It is not good for Valtteri to be informed at such an early stage that he will not continue,” he said. “[Sebastian] Vettel was quite a fiasco on Ferrari last season after it was announced at the beginning of the season that there was no new contract coming up.”

Valtteri Bottas cannot continue Mercedes legacy

Vilander then asserts that Bottas isn’t the right candidate to lead Mercedes to the titles, as this could be the last contract extension of Hamilton, and Mercedes needs to raise a new candidate, which is Russell.

“It is perceived that Hamilton’s two-year contract is his last with the team, in which case the next champion has to be raised so that the success story can continue,” Vilander added.

For his preparation to be a future Mercedes, Russell has already given three years to Mercedes, and Vilander thinks that the Briton wouldn’t be pleased to give another.

“Russell is part of the Mercedes program,” Vilander continued. “If they want to promote him to Mercedes, it can be done easily at the end of the season. I don’t think Russell will be very happy to sign another Williams contract,” he concluded.

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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