George Russell will become the new Mercedes driver – and no one doubts that anymore. The transfer has yet to be announced, but Valtteri Bottas is now saying goodbye to his Brackley teammates.
Martin Brandl, David Croft, Damon Hill, and Tony Flander – these are just four experts who have already spoken loudly about the transition. According to them, everything has already been set up and George Russell will soon be announced as the second driver for the Mercedes team. He will probably get to that already this week, over the weekend for the British Grand Prix.
Honestly, I haven’t seen another solution in a long time. I was thinking that change could happen at the end of 2020. Then, basically over the weekend in Bahrain, we got a picture of something obvious. I watched the race and saw with the naked eye which is better. Russell, despite all the troubles, he rode like a king, he pedaled like inspiration, he did with his new Mercedes everything he loved. And Bottas was… boring.
Bottas has been boring for too long. It is asexual, lacks spark and dynamics. Sometimes he tries to change it, somehow distorts this picture with some vulgar text on the radio, but it does not change anything. In previous years, Valtteri tried many times to become a wild beast, a predator, and a lion. Someone who is serious about defeating Lewis Hamilton himself. Meanwhile, at the races, he showed the face of a docile cat who cried because she was given warm milk.
Bottas wasn’t a good fit…
Another thing is how the Finn has been treated at Mercedes in recent years. This conflict may have been amplified a bit on the Netflix show. Because it’s definitely not that everyone in Brackley didn’t care and didn’t even want to enjoy his win with him. This is nonsense and such nonsense made the third season of “Drive to Survive” seem so difficult. But not about it – something was wrong. Bottas allowed himself to be pushed into the background and pushed himself. Finn was left in place.
At some point, every supporter, observer, expert … Perhaps even Valtteri himself realized the fact that he would be fine. From the start, he lacked the skills to fight Lewis Hamilton. He didn’t have a chance. But he sat quietly praising his car because he had to. Because he was in the best team in the competition and had the best tools at his disposal. And so every weekend or two he would stand on the podium, drink champagne, and the stats would go up…everything was fine. Why is he complaining? Want to get out of a Mercedes faster and end up somewhere behind the pack in Haas or Williams?
Bottas had no other choice. He had to come to terms with the role of assistant. It was clear he couldn’t beat Hamilton. The Briton liked this arrangement, so he often insisted that the Finn remain his teammate. But for now, Lewis has nothing to say on the subject anymore – or so it seems. Moreover, Bottas has nothing to say. He should be happy to be driving this car in 2021.
It’s time for changes
The situation has changed because Mercedes is no longer the best. Red Bull grabbed the baton, driving Toto Wolff into the shoemakers’ passion. Whereas in previous seasons, weak Bottas worked to build Hamilton’s ego and bring 10 to 12 points, now it’s not enough. Mercedes doesn’t need some mid-size Bottas anymore. Mercedes needs a driver who is at the top every weekend.
Watch what happened in recent years at Red Bull – no emotion. Max Verstappen was losing one title after another – he didn’t fight because he didn’t have the tools. He also didn’t have a midfielder who would be there in third or fourth place in every race. This means a lot. Then this assistant comes in handy. You can include it in your strategy, try to undermine yourself. You should have the latter that will give you some strategic options.
The problems began with the departure of Daniel Ricciardo. At that time, the lineup was great, but the car could not cope. This situation is gradually starting to change. The car kept getting better, but the quarterbacks just couldn’t. flirtatious? Very weak. Albon? Very weak. Perez? Exactly – and Sergio Perez appeared. A Mexican who can be ahead and score points easily, for example Bottas. He’s up front, the strategy is working…and suddenly Max somehow miraculously wins race after race after another! Sure – the car is great too, but you have to be of high quality.
Roles have shifted
Mercedes is now facing the same situation. In the constructors’ championship, Red Bull already has a 46-point advantage. In Fred Max there are 32 stitches before Lewis. Perez is third and Bottas is only fifth, losing to Lando Norris. that is enough. It’s time to hit the table with your fist. potash? Very weak. Here something had to change, because it was no longer the colorful victory for everything with a gold car, which Nikita Mazepin might have won. Here you have to fight and suddenly there is a hole that Bottas will not fill.
We write about this transfer in influential mode. Of course – Russell is not yet a Mercedes driver. But advertising may be a matter of days… If not, then several weeks. The many experts closely associated with the F1 circuit could hardly be surprised. Besides, let’s leave the experts. After all, everyone could see that Finn could not cope. Everyone knows that Wolf needs a Russell. There simply cannot be any other turn of events here. Toto is a guy too smart to notice and he leaves Bottas for another boring, boring season just to make Lewis feel better.
In any case, Hamilton should be happy about that too. Russell wouldn’t jump in those two seasons anyway. He’ll do what Bottas does, better. Lewis needs someone like this to fight for more titles. And by the way, he will raise a successor, because it can be said with a high degree of certainty that these last two years for the Briton in Formula 1. This is a win-win situation. For Mercedes, Hamilton, Russell. Bottas will just have to find a place for himself. One in which he could fight for 10th place, maybe 15. He could forget about the podium.
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