The Pit Stop: Should Mercedes replace Bottas with Russell for F1 2021?

After a brilliant debut showing at the Sakhir Grand Prix, should Mercedes consider swapping George Russell and Valtteri Bottas for the 2021 Formula 1 season?

On his race debut for Mercedes standing in for Lewis Hamilton following the seven-time world champion’s positive COVID-19 test, Russell starred, narrowly being pipped to pole position before coming agonisingly close to landing a fairytale maiden win on Sunday.

The 22-year-old Briton’s race unravelled during a pit-stop tyre mix-up during a Safety Car - ironically caused by Jack Aitken driving his usual Williams car - and a late puncture which ended a charge through the field following the error in the pits.

Russell looked in command after he snatched the lead from Bottas at the start and appeared to put the Finn in his place quickly, looking the more likely of the two Mercedes drivers to win in Hamilton’s absence, but it was not to be.

Nevertheless, Russell highlighted all of his star qualities and talent that will surely see him battling it out for world titles with Mercedes in the future. But could a call from the reigning world champions come sooner?

Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff has stressed such a scenario is not a likely prospect for 2021, while Russell has pointed to him having a valid contract at Williams for next year. But stranger things have happened in F1.

That is the topic of discussion in the latest edition of The Pit Stop, where F1 Digital Editor Lewis Larkam is joined by Jordy Gray to talk about Mercedes’ upcoming conundrum. You can see the full video below…

What do you reckon, should Mercedes swap Bottas and Russell for 2021, or keep things as they are for another year? Be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments below, and don’t forget to like and subscribe to Crash.net for more F1 videos and content.