Wolff will help Bottas find new F1 seat if Mercedes picks Russell

Bottas’ future remains uncertain as he enters the final five months of his Mercedes contract, with the German marquee currently in the process of weighing up who should be Lewis Hamilton’s teammate for next season.

The choice appears to be a straight shoot-out between Bottas and current Williams driver and Mercedes protege Russell.

Bottas played a key role in helping Hamilton claim a crucial victory at the British Grand Prix last time out as he followed a team order to move aside for his teammate on his way to completing the podium in third.

Speaking after the race at Silverstone, Wolff revealed he would do all he can to ensure Bottas - who has been linked with a return to Williams and Alfa Romeo - secures a seat elsewhere on the 2022 F1 grid in the event Mercedes chooses to promote Russell.

“If we were to come to the situation that we wanted to give somebody else a go, then it’s not only my relationship with him but also my responsibility that he has a great future,” Wolff said. “Because he deserves that.

“He has been the teammate of the best Formula 1 driver of all time and that is not always very easy to shine, but he’s fantastic.”

Hamilton has backed Bottas to retain his seat but Wolff recently stressed the seven-time world champion’s teammate preference for 2022 was not a topic which came up during negotiations over a new two-year deal, adding the final call will be a “strategic decision”.

“Valtteri has ticked all the boxes that we needed to understand,” Wolff explained. “Not only recently but also before.

“It is more of a strategic decision whether we stay with the current line-up or whether we go more bold next year.

“But we’re going to sit down with the drivers, with both of them – because George is a Mercedes driver – and then discuss and then come up with a decision.”