Mercedes F1 wanted team players when signing George Russell

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Toto Wolff continues to shed light on the team’s decision to fire Valtteri Bottas and says that the departing Mercedes works driver Valtteri Bottas is “not a phenomenon” like the 2021 title contenders, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.

Bottas, 32, will keep his Formula 1 career alive next year with a new long-term contract with Swiss Alfa Romeo.

“I expect him to take the lead there,” said Mercedes team boss Wolff. “He can bring this team forward. He’s certainly not a phenomenon like Lewis or Max, which is very rare, but recently in Turkey, for example, he drove better than the two of them.”

Valtteri Bottas is preparing for a new racing life at Alfa Romeo.

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Despite Bottas ‘success – he has 10 victories in his F1 career, including winning a race this season, and is well on his way to a solid third place in the F1 drivers’ standings – Wolff made the decision to promote the highly regarded Mercedes junior and current Mercedes Williams driver George Russell to Bottas’ seat for 2022.

“What do I expect from him? That he fits well into the Mercedes system,” said Wolff of the European media agency Speed ​​Week when he was asked about Russell. “That means learning. Regardless of whether he is slower or faster or collides with Lewis. He has to be a team player. With us, the team is the star, not a single member of it.”

It is also clear that Wolff sees the 23-year-old Russell as the long-term successor to the much older seven-time world champion Hamilton.

“We are very close and we talk to each other every day,” said Wolff when asked how long the 36-year-old Hamilton would still drive in Formula 1 in his opinion. But we both know that a Formula 1 career is a moving goal. There’s no date he’s committed to.

“What is certain is that we will do the best possible job together next year too.”

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