Mercedes chief Toto Wolff sets deadline on George Russell and Valtteri Bottas decision

F1: Verstappen and Hamilton verbally spar

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Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has indicated that he will make a choice on George Russell or Valtteri Bottas in the very near future. Mercedes have made no secret of the fact that Russell is in with a chance of taking Bottas’ seat alongside Lewis Hamilton next season.

The young British driver has excelled at Williams since breaking into F1 in 2019.

And he did his chances of earning a seat at Mercedes no harm at all in the last race before the summer break in Hungary, finishing eighth for his first points finish at Williams.

In that same race, Bottas was guilty of a huge error after the lights went out, breaking too late and running into the back of Lando Norris.

It’s the third retirement of the season for Bottas which has left him trailing Norris in the championship and is already 87 points behind Hamilton.

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Bottas has often been handed one-year contracts at Mercedes with Wolff opting to stick with the same formula which has helped the team win seven consecutive Constructors’ Championships.

But with Russell’s three-year contract at Williams coming to an end at the end of this season, there has been growing speculation that he could replace Bottas.

A decision was expected to be made during the summer break, but no announcement has been made with just a week to go until the season resumes in Belgium.

Wolff has now suggested that a decision may not be made for a few more weeks, however he doesn’t want the situation to drag on much longer.

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“We have to choose between the stability of Valtteri [Bottas] and the talent of George, where the future lies,” he told Bild.

“I want the matter to be dealt with in September so that both of them can position themselves properly for the coming season.”

That could put pressure on Bottas to improve on his previous performances over the next few races.

But the Finnish driver heads into the Belgium Grand Prix with a five-grid penalty following his collision in Hungary.

That gives Red Bull the slight edge as they hold a slender lead over their rivals in the Constructors’ Championship.

Wolff concedes that Red Bull are a much tougher proposition this year, but he expects the fight to go right down to the wire.

“Red Bull are a bit faster on paper. But we will fight until the end,” he added.

“And we have to, because this championship [fight] will go until the end.”

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