The long-running saga of who will drive for Mercedes alongside Lewis Hamilton in 2022 shows no sign of ending soon.  

Paired together in the pre-event press conference ahead of Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix, Valtteri Bottas and George Russell both confirmed that they have no news to share as Mercedes look set continue to mull over who gets the second seat next year for a while yet. 

"There is no news to share yet," said Bottas in today’s press conference. He went on to add that: "Maybe I know something, maybe I don't. But like I said, there's no news to share." 

Pushed on whether no decision has been made or the time isn’t right for an announcement, Bottas said: "There is no news to share. I don't need to clarify any reasons for that. 

"I think the same for me and George, that we have a job to do here, and there's no news, and we're going to focus on racing and getting maximum points for the team we are racing with." 

Russell echoed Bottas’ comments when asked about it and doesn’t expect any announcements to be made in the near future.  

"I guess no news to share at this stage," Russell said. "[We were] still obviously in discussions over the summer break, but there's nothing to announce one way or another this weekend, and probably not next weekend either, to be honest. 

"I think it's no problem. Do things right rather than quickly, let's say." 

The 23-year-old Brit is not concerned about any potential delays to the decision or the announcement and trusts Mercedes to look after his future, as well as Bottas’. 

"We're both fortunate that we're both sort of looked after in ways by Mercedes, and we both trust them to look after our futures, one way or another," Russell added. 

"From my side, speaking for myself, there are no real problems. Whether it's tomorrow, whether it's after Abu Dhabi, I guess you have to trust the people who are looking out for you." 

Bottas was in agreement with Russell on the matter as it’s nothing new for the Finn since he joined the team in 2017. Rumours in the paddock suggest that the 9-time Grand Prix winner could join Alfa Romeo next year in the event of him losing his drive at Mercedes. 

"The situation overall, I'm fine with it completely," Bottas said. "Just really head down and focus for the weekend, and I'm pretty sure for the next weeks, they will definitely fly by with the triple header, and we have a pretty good battle on our hands as a team, so that's the main focus. 

"Things eventually will sort themselves out, and we'll see."