“We don’t want to wait until January to confirm the two drivers”– Toto Wolff on deciding George Russell’s future with Mercedes.
Mercedes has always been open about George Russell is the future of Mercedes but haven’t decided when that future will come, with Russell already in the third year of his Formula 1 career.
The Briton has displayed that he is ready to be in Mercedes after his spectacular performance in Bahrain in 2020. And now, he wants to know whether his fourth year in F1 will be in Williams or Mercedes.
“That’s the main interest for everyone.” said Russell. “I’m just focused on the here [Williams] and now, but I’m sure everything will be sorted out before the end of the summer break,” he confirmed.
There have been rumours circulating that Russell will soon be announced as Lewis Hamilton’s teammate, with Valtteri Bottas clearly not doing a better job with W12.
Even we want to sort it out.
Meanwhile, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has also agreed with Russell’s stance and has claimed that Mercedes would aim to declare its lineup for 2022 before January.
“We don’t want to wait until January to confirm the two drivers, also to give them peace of mind and allow them to concentrate on their work,” said the Brackley boss: “Obviously, a lot of things are still up in the air. We want the best for the team in the long term.”
This year, there have also been reports of friction between Wolff and Bottas, where the former initially placed blame on the Finn for failed Monaco pitstop, only to take his words back.
However, Bottas didn’t take it well and responded to the comments made by Wolff during the Azerbaijan GP press conference. So, is the sign of times indicating an end of an alliance of four years?
