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George Russell had a huge opportunity when he took over Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes for this weekend’s Sakhir Grand Prix.
Having traded one of F1’s slower cars this year for the fastest, Russell duly led both of yesterday’s practice sessions.
Russell’s luck has been widely interpreted as a threat to Valtteri Bottas’ position, for obvious reasons. As Hamilton’s teammate over the past four seasons, Bottas is expected to lead the way for Russell this weekend. Anything less than a victory for him on Sunday will be interpreted as a failure.
Mercedes has publicly indicated that Bottas can rest easy knowing that his position in the team for next year is not in jeopardy. “We know we will be racing next year with Lewis and Valtteri,” insisted team principal Toto Wolff at the FIA press conference yesterday.
But while Bottas has already signed on the line for the 2021 F1 season, Hamilton’s deal is yet to be done. And, Wolff admitted, his diagnosis of Covid-19 at the start of the week will only further delay negotiations that had already been pushed beyond the final race of the season.
“The schedule is pushed back until it recovers,” Wolff said. “We know we have to do it, we’re pretty well aware of both of us. But the priority now is for him to get back on his feet and be negative again. And then we’ll meet, or Zoom in, to put the pen on the paper. “
In the meantime, Hamilton has to sit down and watch Russell drive his car for this weekend and possibly next weekend as well. (Although, as Wolff also noted, Hamilton might not care about listening: “He has better things to do than watch a first practice session.”)
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What Russell can do with the fastest car on the grid should be of obvious interest to Hamilton. He doesn’t even have to beat Bottas to impress Mercedes. He moved to a different and much larger team on very short notice; he drives a car he’s never sat in before with a three-year-old seat and wears boots too small for his feet to cram into a floor designed for Hamilton. Mercedes will take all of this into consideration when evaluating its performance.
Wolff’s counterpart at Red Bull, Christian Horner, is certain that Mercedes will take the opportunity not only to draw conclusions about how Russell is performing against Bottas – but also against Hamilton.
“It’s a huge opportunity for him and I’m sure he’s looking to put it to good use,” Horner said. “It compares him to Valtteri.
“I’m sure Toto is looking to use it to maybe negotiate Lewis’ contract in some way, some form or another.”
Horner, the longest-serving team manager in Formula 1 today, who has had stars like Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen in his books, knows the reality of how these deals are made.
Hamilton is a giga-star whose name is known far beyond Formula 1 as well as the most successful driver in its history. Its value to Mercedes goes far beyond its ability to drive a car quickly.
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The idea Russell might adopt is that the 2021 seat isn’t realistic. But Hamilton’s raw speed is part of his value. If Russell can easily prove that Mercedes has another driver on hand who could be just as quick, as Horner points out, it gives Wolff leverage to pull into his next contract negotiation to lower the price of Hamilton.
Even if that happens, the next biggest earner in the sport is likely to be enticing. At 35, and speaking openly of only running a few more seasons, this could be Hamilton’s last big career paycheck. Even though he runs into his 40s, this will likely be his last deal before restrictions on how much teams can pay their drivers go into effect.
Understandably, Wolff denied any connection between Hamilton’s contract and Russell’s role as his replacement at the behest of RaceFans yesterday. “We discussed having George in the car. We know what we have with Lewis and he knows what he has with the team.
“Such a situation would never be used as some sort of bargaining power, neither by him nor by us – it could have both meanings. I have a lot of respect for who he is, how he drives, his records and whatever happens this week or next has no bearing on our discussions.
Wolff was also eager to calm the hype that greeted Russell’s session lead time at the start of practice yesterday. “We have to calm everyone down because it was a first session on a new short circuit,” he said.
But what if Russell produced the goods over the next couple of days, and possibly the next weekend? Wolff’s characterization of his performance will surely be a little more enthusiastic when he and Hamilton finally meet over Zoom, pizza and red wine to discuss how much Mercedes will pay the world’s best and most famous racing driver.
Quotes: Dieter Rencken
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2020 Sakhir Grand Prix
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