F1: Mercedes To Announce George Russell As Bottas Replacement At Silverstone

A report by Formula Passion states that winds of change at Mercedes are around the corner. The report claims that George Russell will be announced as a Mercedes driver at the British GP in Silverstone, replacing Valtteri Bottas.

"Mercedes decisions may take a little longer to emerge. And Silverstone seems the most obvious place for that," said British journalist Joe Saward.

"For the time being, it looks like Lewis Hamilton will return, likely with another one-year contract, in 2022. And speculation about who will take the other Mercedes is in the public domain. I have a feeling there could be big celebrations during the British GP weekend," Saward wrote.

Bottas has been with the Brackley outfit since 2017, with him peaking in 2019 and often being an excellent foil to 7-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. In fact, Hamilton has won 4 of his 7 world titles with Bottas as his teammate.

Bottas has been incredibly sensitive to the W12 which has resulted him in falling behind

However, winds of change have been abounding since last year when Mercedes rookie George Russell who is on loan to Williams was slotted in to replace Hamilton when the world champion was down with COVID19 last year at the Sakhir GP. Russell in a car that was built for the world champion was millimetres from pole position and despite not getting pole had the jump on Bottas at the start.

A series of unfortunate events set off by a bungled double-stacked pitstop meant Russell barely made it to the points. However, since then Russell's star has risen and he's himself become extremely vocal about getting a chance to drive for Mercedes.

At the Imola GP, Bottas and Russell had another run-in as the young Briton the time around in the Williams tried to overtake the rather off-colour Finn but they both ended up crashing. Initially, Russell blamed Bottas for the crash but then had to apologise for the outburst and the crash after being criticised by everyone around including Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.

Bottas has been a great teammate to Hamilton causing no discord while always staying ahead of rivals
Photo Credit: AFP

Things from here haven't really improved for Bottas as he struggled both in Baku and Monaco. He was also off the pace in the Spanish GP which his teammate ended up winning in a domineering way.

Mercedes also has stiff competition from Red Bull with two drivers winning a race this season with Sergio Perez joining the ranks of the team earlier this year. In 2022, signs are Ferrari could also be resurgent and its driver pairing of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr is looking formidable.

Mercedes also can't afford to lose a talent like Russell who has been dubbed as the successor to Lewis Hamilton.