Bottas no longer has a contract at the end of the 2021 season and faces competition for his seat from Mercedes junior George Russell, who has spent the last three seasons for Williams races.
Mercedes has made it clear that there won’t be a rash decision on his lineup for 2022, while Bottas has tried to make sure that thoughts about his future don’t distract him.
Bottas struggled at the start of the 2021 season, finished a race no higher than third and slipped to fifth in the drivers’ standings, scoring less than half of teammate Lewis Hamilton’s total points.
After a difficult end to the race in France, Bottas lost third place in the closing stages after getting angry over the team radio about the decision to stick to a one-stop strategy.
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When discussing Bottas’ future, ex-F1 driver and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Montoya felt that a quick decision by the team would help improve their relationship and ease the pressure on the Finn on the track .
“I think if they go up to him and tell him you’re out it would be a lot better whether he’s out or in,” Montoya told Motorsport TV Live. “Whatever you decide you need to do, you need to do it quickly. Because right now he’s in a really bad situation where they don’t tell him yes or no, just do your job and if you do your job you might get a seat.
“This is the worst situation you can find yourself in because you want to be as fast as possible but don’t want to make mistakes.
“That combination is terrible because the pressure to screw everything up week by week is increasing and when things don’t go well, the relationship with the team isn’t the best either.
“Either way, whether they sign up to him or not, I think the pressure will stop.”
George Russell, Williams
Photo by: Jerry Andre / Motorsport Images
Russell is a free agent at the end of the season when his three-year contract with Williams expires, making him an option for Mercedes to move up to their A-Team.
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The British driver has impressed throughout his time at Williams despite the team’s struggles and showed his potential in a Mercedes car at Sakhir last year when he stepped in after Lewis Hamilton tested positive for COVID-19.
Montoya said Russell was “the obvious answer” to replacing Bottas should Mercedes let him go but was curious to see how he would fare against Hamilton.
“I think the work he did before was brilliant,” said Montoya. “We’ll see what happens when Russell has to take on Lewis. He could look really good in practice like Bottas and go into the race and Lewis goes and beats him by 20-30 seconds.”
“How Russell’s head reacts to it and how it reacts to it and can overcome it, that will be the key to success.”
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