No Mercedes driver decision until summer break
Toto Wolff says Mercedes will think about its 2020 driver lineup after the summer break.
Lewis Hamilton is staying, but there is a big question mark about the identity of his teammate.
Valtteri Bottas might struggle to hang onto his seat, particularly with Esteban Ocon in the wings and sensational rumours that Max Verstappen could leave Red Bull.
"We don't want to put pressure on ourselves to make the driver decision before the summer break," team boss Wolff told Speed Week.
Frenchman Ocon is being linked with a potential loan to Renault.
"Esteban is arousing the interest of some teams," Wolff confirmed. "We don't want to give him up lightly.
"But if there is no chance of a place for him with us, we must let him go."
As for the other Mercedes development driver, George Russell, Wolff says he is staying at Williams for 2020.
"George has an ongoing contract with Williams for 2020, and I hope he helps to bring them forwards," he said.
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My opinion is that Valtteri Bottas has been performing very well this year and I think you would be crazy to let him go. You would also have a lot of upset fans. Valtteri has potential to become the next world champion so leave the team as it is in 2020.
I assume that there is only one place for world champion and Mercedes is making sure that Hamilton keeps it as long as possible and Valtteri has a slim chance to challenge Lewis now and the only role he has is to provide a back up far Hamilton so no other drivers can come close.
What rubbish, up till now Bottas has had just as much chance as Hamilton the difference is that most of the time he's not as fast in either qualifying or the actual race. Pure and Simple
There are no team orders at Mercedes at the moment so botttas and Hamilton are free to race, bottas just can't compete with Hamilton at the moment, no so With vettel, team orders VETTEL MUST BE IN FRONT.
There are no team orders at Mercedes at the moment so botttas and Hamilton are free to race, bottas just can't compete with Hamilton at the moment, not so With vettel, team orders VETTEL MUST BE IN FRONT.