I think Mercedes should be cautious about ditching Bottas especially when it's so tight at the top. When he doesn't have something outside his control go wrong he's often there or thereabouts on Hamilton's pace, much more so than anyone they've put with so Verstappen. What more do Mercedes actually want? I suppose maybe they're looking for a successor?
2nd Merc seat would be an upgrade for literally every person who holds a super license except (Lewis and Max), with that much choice for Mercedes I can see why they would be tempted to dump Bottas...
I think your massively under rating bottas, If he was that bad he would of been gone 2-3 years ago. Bottas has one soul job, Beat Perez in points this season. So Far so good. Wolf aint going to sack someone mid season either way so the discussion is totally mute. If Russell does become Lewis Partner and gets stomped the same as Bottas will all his fan boys come back and say someone else should have a go lol, Nothing in his time in F1 has shown that he will be anything close to Lewis / Max level. Reality is he got out qualified by Bottas and was only close using a setup Bono had got from Lewis in the previous GP. If Lewis is not there he has to find that setup himself. Personally think his 1 lap pace is good because the car is setup for 1 lap, Then in the race he always goes backwards. He has also had 3 chances for points in that williams and blew it all 3 times. Biggest question why has he not gone into the next tier of Merc car, Aston for example have very close ties, If Merc thought he was that good he would surely of been offered a seat somewhere
Is he though? Let's not forget that Toto wants to avoid another Rosberg/Hamilton setup, which he might end up with by pairing Hamilton and Russell, since both are more than capable of throwing toys out of their pram when things don't go their way.
It's not about Russell and Hamilton though, is it? Toto is looking to ensure success post Hamilton, which means bringing on someone before he pulls the plug.
Surely that person is Max though? Merc have long wanted him. Lando this season also looks like a top rate driver. I really dont get why Russell becomes the default choice for Merc outside of him been cheaper than someone like Max or Lando. Russell been british gets the british media hype I get that, but not sure what everyone else is seeing so far. More Hype than ability. Lewis no longer seems to be wanting to retire, I wonder if Bottas gets more time at Merc in 2022. People wont like it but they are constantly delivery titles to the team. So why rock the boat. I really do not know who they would lose Russell too if they did that either.
Max has no reason to be #2 at Mercedes because as the #1 at Red Bull he already has a chance to win every race where Lewis gets spanked by reliability gremlins.
Will Merc or Redbull be more likely to deliver a title winning car. If Max thinks thats redbull he has every reason to not Join Mercedes for next season if he thinks its merc why would he not angle for a move, He has a get out clause in his contract if Redbull lack performance. Hence most of the reports saying they will focus on this year. Why would russell be a more better #2 than bottas? If the goal of the #2 is to score more points than Perez in the Redbull so far Bottas is on track to deliver this. Why Risk Russell who will not even fit in the car due to chassis size, whoever is beside lewis needs a strong mental, Imola showed russell is far from ready.
You might be confusing me with someone else, because I didn't say the replacement for Bottas will or should Russell, I'm the one who said Mercedes could choose basically anyone they want because #2 at Merc would be an upgrade for everyone (except Max for whom it would be a sidegrade).
I think they are happy with Bottas and people don’t like it shumi had Rubens as his wingman for many years not a lot of difference really and whoever is in the second Redbull is default wingman this is F1 Bottas just needs to outscore Perez and his seat is safe
Bottas Vs Perez could be interesting especially with Perez being as one commentator put it, "a fleet managers dream" with his tyre management skill. Hes starting to get his head round the car finally so becoming more threat, an he can wheel to wheel as well. Also, is Alonso finally starting to get the fire back? I like his honesty the cars good hes just not good enough, more often drivers will blame setup, traffic or Ericsson hitting them.
and he is off again... Leclerc with the added burn showing how highly the other drivers think of him i wonder if Netflix will do an entirely side show just for Mazepin, it would be very fitting if he gets his own spin off show
https://www.google.com/amp/s/racer.com/2021/05/08/mazepin-penalized-for-impeding-norris/amp/ Dear god can't we get rid of this guy already, if I was his dad I'd be so embarrassed I'd remove him myself. At least Lance doesn't make a complete cock if himself. (Currently showing vettel up which is mildly amusing)
They should make him start the race from the car park on a uni cycle wearing a clown costume. Proper penalty.
Well that was a very close and exciting race, until it wasn't. I do wonder if Merccedes aren't doing the thing where they are sitting on UNLIMITED POWER and only dipping into it when needed again. Ouch for Nando and his spark plugs. Mick lapped Nikita. They should make him start the GP2 race, if he finishes in the top 5 he can start the F1 race.
Bottas may have been sandbagging to try and save some rubber due to his early first stop but I doubt Lewis had much room to push harder.