Toto Wolff: "He has to stay patient and confident"

It is still not clear who will be Mercedes' second driver next year. Will Lewis Hamilton renew or will young George Russell get a chance? The decision seems to be coming soon.

In an interview with Germany's RTL, Wolff seemed to make it clear that Russell's Sakhir performance never came up in discussions. “We never played the card of Russell and his sensational performance in Bahrain in the negotiations [with Lewis]. We have a strong relationship and have celebrated too many successes for that. It was just a matter of making the best decision for Lewis and the team."

Still, Wolff didn't want to dismiss Russell and says the team continues to have faith in him. "Russell will definitely play a role in our future lineup. He just has to trust us and be patient."  It seems likely that the young Brit will replace Valtteri Bottas after the 2021 season.