Hamilton holds 2021 teammate 'trump card'
Dec.9 - Lewis Hamilton holds "a trump card" when it comes to the identity of his teammate for 2021.
That is the view of a respected F1 pundit, amid speculation Valtteri Bottas could be ousted - despite their signed 2021 contracts - by Sakhir GP sensation George Russell.
Russell outclassed Hamilton's regular Mercedes teammate Bottas in Bahrain last Sunday, triggering calls that the team should find a way to make a full-time driver change for 2021.
"If Russell drives again this weekend and is even better against Bottas, then that should be the end for Valtteri," former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher told Sky Deutschland.
"Toto Wolff said in an interview that he was definitely not satisfied with Bottas, so I don't think the Finn will be back in the Mercedes next year."
Indeed, eagle-eyed Instagram users claim that Bottas has suddenly deleted the word 'Mercedes' from his social media profile.
It now reads: "Valtteri Bottas. Driver."
Similarly, Russell's profile no longer features the word 'Williams', with his profile reading: "George Russell. Formula 1 driver."
On its own official Instagram, Mercedes played down the speculation, insisting in its new bio: "Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team. It's just an Instagram bio. Don't overthink it."
Bottas also posted a bike ride on the fitness-tracking app Strava featuring a photo of the 'W' foundation at the W Abu Dhabi hotel, intensifying rumours that he and Russell might simply swap seats for 2021.
However, Niki Juusela, a correspondent for the Finnish broadcaster C More, is not so sure Hamilton will embrace the idea of being paired with feisty 22-year-old Russell next year.
"Hamilton has a trump card in his hand," he said. "He has a big influence on who drives the another Mercedes car."
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As if Bottas and George would just swap seats... I think that the get vastly different rates of pay for a start.
Why are we bashing BOT? HAM is the one demanding god-like pay to drive a clearly superior car. RUS's performance demonstrated the car's superiority...full stop.
If the car is the reason for Hamilton’s success then Bottas has no excuse for not being as successful as him. I’m not a fan of Hamilton and no it’s not because he is black its a million times worse than that it’s because he is a Pom and it’s in my DNA as an Aussie to automatically cheer for anyone else when it comes to sport. But if you where to put Hamilton and Bottas in the Williams then Hamilton still wins. The guy can drive and just maybe people need to accept that fact. Hamilton and Russell together Hamilton still wins what everyone keeps forgetting is that you have to be 100% switched on year in year out to succeed and that is why some people regardless of ability never make it to the top.
Fully agree with you ROR. Furthermore, I think Hamilton is very concerned/worried to have Russel as a teammate in future! I am sure Russel will not be as humble as Bottas and willing to be Hamilton's "wingman".....
All the hype seemed to be around Russell. It seems to me that perhaps Bottas was handicapped from the outset. Hamilton is a phenomenal driver, but Bottas is no slouch.
While it is obvious that Hamilton is a very good driver, Russell's performance in the car that did not fit him and which he had never driven before shows that with a good driver the Mercedes has the advantage to be the lead package hands down. There are probably half a dozen drivers on the F1 grid that could have done a performance close to what Russell did. While Hamilton is a very good driver when he has a very good package he has yet to demonstrate the ability to take a mediocre package and win with it. This is what the likes of Fangio, Ascari,Moss, Clark, Andretti, Stewart, Alonzo, Vettel and Schumacher were able to do. This does not exclude Hamilton's ability to win in a mediocre package but he has not had a mediocre package since leaving Maclaren.
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