MERCEDES chief Toto Wolff was giving nothing away when quizzed on George Russell’s long-term future with the team.
The young Brit, 22, stepped into Lewis Hamilton’s shoes in Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix.
George Russell’s long-term future could be at Mercedes[/caption]
Russell, who is on loan to Williams for the season, looked certain to win on his Mercedes debut before the team ruined his chances with a disastrous pit-stop mix-up in which Wolff described as a ‘colossal f*** up.’
World champion Hamilton will return in his car for Sunday’s race in Abu Dhabi if he tests negative for coronavirus.
But Russell has been touted to become Hamilton’s team-mate in the future when Valtteri Bottas’ contract expires in 2022.
Under increasing pressure to sign Russell to a long-term contract, Wolff said ‘he needs to see what the future holds.’
He added: “To be honest, I haven’t made up my mind what that means for us.”
But speculation that Russell will replace Bottas was further increased after eagle-eyed fans noticed something amiss on Instagram.
The Finnish racer removed ‘Mercedes’ from his bio, having previously had it on there.
His page now reads: “Valtteri Bottas. Driver. #VB77.”
Toto Wolff gave nothing away of his plans for George Russell[/caption]
After beating him by one place in Sunday’s race, a relieved Bottas said he was in danger of looking like a fool.
He said: “I might have looked like a complete c***, a fool, so that’s not nice.
“It was a pretty bad race for me from that side and it will be very easy for people to say that a new guy comes in and beats the guy who has been in the team a few years, so it was not ideal.
“He obviously did a mistake-free race, but I still knew there would be everything to play for.
“The race was not finished when we had the thing with the pit stops, which changed everything.
“I managed to go a bit longer on the medium tyre and that would have opened up opportunities for me… I was catching him.”
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
