Rosberg advises against Bottas-Russell swap

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George Russell Valtteri Bottas

Nico Rosberg doubts Mercedes have made their decision on George Russell or Valtteri Bottas for 2022.

While he admits it would be more entertaining, Nico Rosberg believes Toto Wolff shouldn’t replace Valtteri Bottas with George Russell.

There have been rumours for a long time now that Russell will take Bottas’s Mercedes seat at the end of this season or perhaps even sooner, and they’ve only been ramped up by the Finn’s struggles so far this year.

In fact, it has been claimed that Wolff has already informed the Brit that he’ll soon be getting a promotion once this season is over, while RTL report that the team principal will make the decision after the second race in Austria (4 July) to give Bottas enough time to look for a seat elsewhere for 2022.

While Rosberg acknowledges Russell is a big talent, he doesn’t believe he should be given the nod over the man who replaced him in 2017 just yet.

“That’s the big question at the moment,” the German told Sky News.

“I think from a British perspective, you can be really excited about the future because you have two extremely talented up-and-coming drivers. You’ve got Lando Norris and George Russell. Russell of course being a Mercedes driver.

“Certainly, [for] Toto Wolff… he’s going to be thinking about it very, very carefully. It’s difficult to know which way he’s going to go.

“It’s not something I think he should do.”

Nico Rosberg
Nico Rosberg

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Rosberg’s view is not one that too many people share, with most wanting to see the Williams man finally given a proper chance after he impressed so much standing in for Lewis Hamilton in Bahrain last year, looking set to win before a pit-stop issue.

The 2016 World Champion does admit that, purely in terms of entertainment, it would be a more exciting line-up as Russell could push Hamilton harder than Bottas does.

“From a fan perspective it would be interesting to have a change and to have someone new in that second car alongside Lewis,” he added.

“Someone who is really going to give Lewis a run for his money in the same team. A young guy who can replace Lewis as No 1 driver in the future at Mercedes.

“From that point of view, the fan’s perspective, we would be quite happy to see a change there and see something new.”

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