Rumoured that Bottas has been told that he won't be driving for Mercedes in 2022.
Which makes sense to me. Hamilton-Bottas is a great pairing, it's very rare to see a driver who combines that much one-lap pace (enough for a good number of pole positions) with that little aggression and aggravation. If Merc was confident Hamilton would be staying with them through 2025, I think they'd keep Bottas on too.
However, in the case that Hamilton hangs up his driving gloves, you wouldn't want to be left with Bottas as your lead driver - he's proven time and again not to be on Hamilton's level, and with the Redbulls so close and cost cap in place, Merc just can't afford to be without a top level driver.
Bringing in a newbie after Hamilton retires would probably lose Merc at least a year, given how hard it is to get up to speed with limited testing and the complexity of the cars. Therefore Merc need to bring in a top-level young driver now, alongside Hamilton, to learn the ropes and be ready to replace him when he retires. To fail to prepare for succession in the cockpit is to prepare to fail, and very likely to break the run of success.
Since Hamilton seems to be enjoying the recent outbreak of competition at the head of the World Championship and leaning towards continuing next year, that means Bottas must vacate his seat, to allow a younger driver with more potential to be tested and to bed in, ready to win the next championship after Lewis retires. One assumes that will be Russell after his understudy performance last year.
The Daily Wail actually suggested Russell could be brought in mid-season this year, which seems surprising. Only way I could see that making sense is if Hamilton said this year would be his last, in which case you might prioritise getting his replacement up to speed. But I don't think that's the case.
While Bottas has had some weak performances, he's generally done ok over a season and is at a fairly high level, a new driver would need to get up to speed anyway so the upside is small in the constructors championship, and the downside big.
So I think that's nonsense, but I do expect this year to be his last at Merc.
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Originally Posted by Rare White Ape
