“Valtteri Bottas is not at the same level as Lewis Hamilton or Max Verstappen”: Mercedes boss shares his thoughts on his departing driver

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff feels that Valtteri Bottas is not ‘a phenomenon’ like Lewis Hamilton or Max Verstappen.

Bottas joined the German team from Williams back in 2017. Since joining, he’s never been at par with teammate Hamilton and has mostly played a ‘supporting driver’ role with the team. However, we have seen some brilliant performances from the Finnish driver who won 10 races while driving for the Silver Arrows.

The 32 year old will be leaving the Brackley based team at the end of the season. He departs to join Alfa Romeo Racing as a potential replacement to Kimi Raikkonen, who will retire after 2021. Toto Wolff has decided to replace him with their academy and current Williams driver, George Russell.

Valtteri Bottas is certainly not a Formula 1 phenomenon, says Toto Wolff

Toto Wolff acknowledges the role Bottas played in the recent years in Mercedes’ Constructors Title wins. However, he feels that he is not at the same level as Hamilton or Verstappen.

“He’s certainly not a phenomenon like Lewis or Max, which is very rare. But recently in Turkey he drove better than the two of them.”, said Wolff. “It doesn’t matter whether he is slower or faster or tied with Lewis. He has to be a team player. With us, the team is the star, not a single member of it.”

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Russell fits in well with the Mercedes system according to the boss

Russell has been impressive throughout his career, winning the 2018 F2 Championship. He has been tipped as a successor to Hamilton and a lot of people including Wolff feel that he is the long term replacement to his 2022 teammate.

“What do I expect of him? That he fits in well with the Mercedes system,” Wolff said when asked about him. “That means learning.” “It doesn’t matter whether he is slower or faster or tied with Lewis. He has to be a team player. With us, the team is the star, not a single member of it.”, he added.

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Toto Wolff also said that he does not know when Lewis is going to hang up his racing gloves.

“We are very close and we exchange our ideas every day,” Wolff said when asked how long he thinks 36-year-old Hamilton will keep racing in Formula 1.”But we both know that a Formula 1 career is a moving goal.”

“There is no date he is committed to. “What is certain is that we will do the best possible job together next year as well,” he concluded.