Wolff mentions important role of Bottas: ''Not obvious with drivers''

Valtteri Bottas remains an extra year at Mercedes and with that Toto Wolff has chosen for the safe option. Talents Esteban Ocon and George Russell stay with Renault and Williams for another year, while Bottas plays the ideal role alongside Hamilton.

‘’We are very excited that Valtteri will stay with the team for at least one more season. We’re seeing the strongest Valtteri we’ve ever seen this year – in terms of his on-track performance, but also physically and mentally. He is second in the championship, finished the last season in P2 and plays a very important part in our overall team performance’’, let Wolff know in the statement.

Wolff heeft de beste coureurs

‘’I’m confident that we have the strongest driver pairing in F1 today and signing Valtteri is an important first step in retaining this strength for the future. Valtteri is a hard-working, straightforward guy who has a good relationship with the entire team – including his team-mate, which is not a given when both drivers are fighting for the championship.’’

This season Bottas was right there, but a flat tire put him behind in the championship. Wolff sets the bar even higher for his pupil for the coming years.. ‘’I’m looking forward to seeing him continue to raise the bar together with us this year and in 2021’’, concludes the team boss of Mercedes.