“We have already made decision but not yet said”– Toto Wolff speaks on picking between Valtteri Bottas and George Russell for 2022.
Before going into 2022, Mercedes has a vital decision to make: either sticking with Valtteri Bottas or giving a chance to George Russell, who bloomed out of Mercedes’ development programme.
Speaking to RTL, Toto Wolff has indicated that he has decided to carry forward the team for the next year at least but insists he will tell at the correct time.
However, the Austrian also tried to hide the minor slip-up of the buzzing story and claimed that he is not aware of his team’s direction and tries to display confusion.
“Now we’ll see what decision we make – or have already made but not yet said. So whether we can announce news yet?”Unfortunately, I have no news; I still don’t know which direction it is going,” claims Wolff afterwards – but winks meaningfully at the camera.
George Russell showing his brilliance
The RTL further in the report believes that Wolff is trying to tease with such mind games, and soon there will be a statement released regarding 2022 plans.
Meanwhile, Russell has been performing brilliantly in the recent Grand Prix at Silverstone; he had a brilliant outing during the qualifying and the sprint races, over where he managed to have a top-10 finish.
But in the main race, he had to settle with a P12, again missing on to gain some points with Williams. Nevertheless, Russell is a lethal threat on single laps and now picking up on Q3s, which was a distant possibility for him in 2020.
Despite no points, Russell is having a better performative year in 2021, as he is often near the points bracket. Thus, Mercedes feel he can do wonders with a Mercedes car, which was apparent last year in Bahrain.