'You don't want to disrupt Hamilton with a whippersnapper like Russell'
With Hamilton's contract extension, speculation about his teammate begins again. The guys from Sky Sports are also discussing who will sit next to the Brit in 2022. Will it be George Russell or Valtteri Bottas?
At last year's Sakhir GP, George Russell filled in for Lewis Hamilton who had to miss the race due to a coronavirus infection. Russell left a good impression, finishing just behind Valtteri Bottas on P2 in qualifying. It looked like he could win the race, but a team blunder with the pit stop meant he had to settle for ninth.
Johnny Herbert said the following on camera: "We have spoken about Lewis and his relationship with the team. The one thing that you don't want to disrupt is your number one driver being disrupted by this whippersnapper George Russell coming in. He has proved he can jump in Mercedes and do a good job. He can handle the pressure and Valtteri fits in well at the same time. He is a race winner, always there or thereabouts."
Hamilton knows who his teammate will be
Toto Wolff revealed that he values Lewis Hamilton's opinion when it comes to the second driver's contract talks. According to Paul Di Resta, Hamilton already knows who his teammate will be.
"It doesn't matter who you are. I am sure lewis knows who the next driver is going to be. That would have been part of the discussion. Why wouldn't he ask the question? Why upset a working environment? You have to think of the future, but at the same time, if Lewis is nailed on for that long he's still got a lot of life in him. And he's still got a lot of drive. I wouldn't upset the balance if I was in charge," Di Resta said.
Toto Wolff revealed that he values Lewis Hamilton's opinion when it comes to the second driver's contract talks....since when is one's opinion a final decision... Toto doesn't say they will choose who Lewis wants at the end... There's absolutely nothing that says he will make a final decision on that... and its Johnny n Paul's view point n not a fact....
Ha ha, if Russell is a whippersnapper then SLH is a clown, even his own countrymen said during the race today that one does not know what to believe from him. Crying as usual about the tires that will not last the race and apparent damage to his car, after he ran over the curb, and then on that same lap sets his fastest lap of the race. Lost all the respect that I had for him, a real clown!
Mclaren should go and Grab George before someone else take him and get rid of their Dead Weight PRONTO....
I hope Russell doesn't get a seat at Merc. He deserves a better seat where he won't play second fiddle to Hamilton. He is much better than that.
now that hamilton has signed for mb it might be bottas for one more year. russell really has limited options. where else will he go. sure his stock is up but what are his options ? alfa ? haas ? alpine ? he is at wolff's mercy and that is that. if hamilton was wavering then i'd say russell would have had the power but now that hamilton has signed on things have changed. ideally, if i were wolff, i would sign russell as an in the contract, in black and white, absolute, carved in stone number two to hamilton for one year at mercedes, (maybe even the full two) and then russell would be free. for one year anyway russell could learn a lot from hamilton about racing and fighting for wdc's at the f1 level (russell has made some pretty big mistakes in races and not optimised things for himself oftenish). that would be of value to all. hamilton up against a free russell could face the possible scenario that he was in during his first year at mclaren - in reverse of course - and that would be disastrous for him. the other things to consider are hamilton's marketability. he is 10x what other drivers are in that regard. that is massively valuable to mercedes, ineos and petronas and they absolutely do not want to lose that with bitterness at the end. russell is years away from that, if he even has the potential to do so. anyone who forgets that is not seeing the whole picture. hamilton's global marketability is huge.
......"When it comes to the second driver"? If George is in the Mercedes, it could very well be that Hamilton will be the 'second driver' like what happened when Charles joined Ferrari and became Seb's team mate. The pecking order of who is No 1 and No 2 at Ferrari soon became very clear after the first few races, and eventually their former No.1 driver found himself jobless until AM took pity and signed him on at the expense of Checo ...... who in hind side would be very happy as he is in a far superior car this year because of the change of teams.
Popular on GPBlog
F1 Full Results | Japanese Grand Prix FP2: Piastri P1, Norris P2
F1 LIVE | Follow FP2 for the Japanese Grand Prix here
Mercedes breaks F1 rule ahead of Japanese Grand Prix weekend
