The driver situation at Mercedes for 2022 has been the cause for a lot of speculation recently. All the drivers involved, namely Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas, and George Russell, at various points in the last couple of weeks have stated that they want to get done with the contract for 2022 before the summer break ends. However, as per team principal Toto Wolff, they might have to wait much longer as quoted by Autosport

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0:00 - Mercedes Might Delay Driver Announcement
1:42 - Fast Feed

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Mercedes Might Delay Driver Announcement

Wolff started off by revealing what current driver Valtteri Bottas has to do to retain his seat

“Drive the car fast on a Saturday and Sunday. If he does that, he puts himself in a very good situation in terms of next year”

He then explained why a fresh line-up while being a consideration isn’t the main driving force for 2022

“Is that [a fresh impetus] one of the one of the things that need to be considered? Absolutely. But it's not the main driver. The main driver is consistent performance. Especially in this difficult year, we need two drivers that are racing right there”

He reiterated the need for having two drivers who are performing to the best of their abilities

“If one is having an off weekend or DNFs, you need the other one to bring it home. And that's why it's always important that both are just on the max of their ability”

He then divulged the possible time by which they will finalize their 2022 line-up

“Somewhere in the winter, I think. But I don't know if it's December, January or February”

This flies in the face of everything they had stated last year. Wolff was asked if they would really wait that long. Wolff replied by saying

“It is highly possible because we have always been committed and loyal to the drivers. And this is what we're doing”


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Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc thinks that “it’s always good to have extra checks in case some teams try to play a game with [tyre pressure]”

He believes “it’s also definitely the responsibility of the team to make sure everything is safe for the drivers to drive the cars”

Laurent Mekies – Ferrari's Racing Director, has reiterated that “from a car development point of view, [they] have already made [their] decisions”

“It is all on 2022, and there will be no real upgrade coming to improve these weaknesses [on the SF21]”

He, however, suggested that they “can always work on [the issues] by simply understanding them better”

“And if you understand them better, it can open the door to solutions that you can already apply”

Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas has stated that he “can trust the car and that’s the biggest difference” in France

He and teammate Lewis Hamilton recently swapped chassis. Toto Wolff stated that they “swap parts around all the time, and this is part of the planning as these are carryover chassis”

“They're running for a second season, so [to ensure they're] not accumulating millions of miles on one and basically, that's part of the plan”

Williams’ George Russell is “just [enjoying] that curiosity of not knowing what the future holds for [him]”

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton has reiterated that he “definitely didn't make a mistake under the pressure of Max” in Baku

He added that what he “did in Baku [he doesn't] even consider a mistake, but [he] don't feel any pressure”

He also revealed that they “have not moved the [magic] button” that he pressed accidently during the race restart in Baku

They've “only covered it to make sure that what happened in Baku doesn't happen again, to prevent [him] from touching it by accident”

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner “was surprised that Mercedes changed engines so early”

He pointed out that “usually they have lasted the longest. Maybe they have a bit more degradation than they expected”

He also feels that “the hardest thing to predict is how many races [they] will have in the season. There are some bumps at the end of the year”

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc is of the opinion that “where [they] fall short at the moment is in the medium-high-speed corners. But it's [also] about the total package”


Was it driver error when Lewis Hamilton accidentally pressed the magic button in Baku?