F1 | Marko eyes Russell in Mercedes: staying at Williams "no longer makes sense"
Red Bull’s talent scout firmly believes that the time is right for Russell to land in Mercedes. Bottas, according to him, would swap-back to Williams.
The rumours of these days that claim Mercedes junior George Russell to be promoted to Mercedes for the next season could be founded. Such rumours has it that the announcement of the Williams driver as the next Lewis Hamilton’s teammate would be given at the British Grand Prix next month. If it was so, the Silver Arrows would have two Britons as drivers and could build the way of a Post-Hamilton age.
Superhero stuff from the mechanics getting the car back together for Quali. Shame the red flags stopped us setting a quick lap in Q2 but that takes nothing away from an awesome team effort. Tomorrow could be interesting... let's go. pic.twitter.com/brVujJo0aT
— George Russell (@GeorgeRussell63) June 5, 2021
Valtteri Bottas is not giving credit to this info, as he keeps saying that he is negotiating the details of a new deal, even if there is someone who whispers that Mercedes could have already told the Finn that his services will be no longer needed for the next season.
Helmut Marko, the extremely experienced Red Bull’s talent scout, gives the young Briton’s promotion as a logical consequent step for Mercedes.
“It would be the logical step,- the Austrian states to F1 Insider.com – You can’t hold it off any longer. Otherwise the funding no longer makes sense. Even if Hamilton won’t be happy,” he said, referring to further rumours that Hamilton wants Mercedes to retain Bottas because he’s poses very little threat.
Moreover, he firmly believes that both Bottas and Russell have already been informed by Toto Wolff. At this point, it would be curious to know Marko’s opinion on what could be the future of the Finn. The Austrian replies that the only option for the 31-year old to stay in the Circus would be a swap between Russell and Bottas, with the Briton arriving to Mercedes and the Finn going back to Williams.
That was a hard weekend 🇦🇿
— Valtteri Bottas (@ValtteriBottas) June 7, 2021
Lack of pace all weekend. A lot to understand & learn for us before forgetting it and moving on 🏁#VB77 #F1 #Baku@MercedesAMGF1
📷 @ThomasMaheux pic.twitter.com/gbbc0CGNYQ
“Bottas doesn’t have to call us, - he jokes - There is no space. Actually, I can only imagine a swap with Russell. I think Williams will be the only option for him.”
Helmut Marko’s words are very important because he has seen many drivers come and go, mostly for his own decision and he knows a lot about drivers’ contracts. He is surely right about Hamilton’s perplexity to accept Russell on his side. A young, shiny talent like Russell’s is eager for victories and will not be as meek as Bottas, with the risk for him to have another important rival for the title, just like when Nico Rosberg was in the team with him, adding the factor of the same nationality.
