Russell Vs Bottas: Mercedes Boss Opens Up On Hamilton's Possible Teammate For F1 2022

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has said the world champions will decide in the next couple of months on who will partner Lewis Hamilton next season.

Mercedes announced Hamilton's new deal during the latest weekend in Austria on Saturday. Mercedes have tied down Hamilton until the end of 2023 as the British team offered their star driver a new two-year contract. For Hamilton's partner, Mercedes, which won the World Constructors' Champions seven times in a row since 2014, will decide between Valtteri Bottas and their junior driver George Russell, who currently races for Williams.

Bottas has been a part of Mercedes since 2017, bagging nine wins and overall 52 podium finishes in 78 races for the team.

Meanwhile, Russell filled in for Hamilton at Mercedes for the Sakhir Grand Prix weekend in Bahrain last year when the latter was forced to miss after contracting COVID-19. Russell had a memorable weekend in Bahrain as he started the race on the front row after narrowly missing out on the pole position to teammate Bottas. Russell finished ninth and earned his first three World Championship points — two points for finishing ninth and one for the fastest lap. The young racer was hailed by the media and the Mercedes team for his performance at the Sakhir Grand Prix.

Speaking about Hamilton's partner, Wolff told Formula One's official website Saturday, "Today is about Lewis and having that contract out of the way. We always said we wanted to give it the next few races to gain more clarity. [We are] also happy Valtteri's racing in Austria in my opinion was really good and he needs to consolidate that. He's a known factor. In the same way, we know the strengths and weaknesses of George, and that decision is going to be made during the summer."

Wolff went on to state that the team management is yet to have individual discussions with Bottas and Russell and a decision is expected to be reached before the end of the ongoing term.

"First [we will have] discussions with George and Valtteri and then hopefully we are sorted before the end of the season. We value them both for their strengths and for what they can contribute to the team," Wolff added.

Hamilton, who has won the last six driver's titles, is currently trailing Max Verstappen of Red Bull by 32 points in the ongoing F1 2021.