Schumacher: 'This driver would do better at Mercedes than Bottas'

There has been a lot of criticism about the performance of Valtteri Bottas, Lewis Hamilton's teammate at Mercedes. Where Hamilton can constantly compete with Max Verstappen, the Finn has so far mainly acted as a strategic pawn. Ralf Schumacher is critical of the Finn and sees his successor ready and waiting: George Russell.

It came to a collision between Bottas and Russell earlier this season in Italy. The Brit reacted furious, while the Finn was not happy about the action of the talented driver at Imola. Ralf Schumacher says in his interview with Sky Germany that he has a lot of confidence in his successor: George Russell.

"Russell in a Mercedes. I think he would do better there than Bottas. With all the setbacks he's had, everything is going to be very difficult for Valtteri. We have seen with Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren and Checo Perez at Red Bull that it is very difficult to get used to a new car quickly. But yes, that would be Russell," said the German, who has great confidence in the Briton.

Russell natural successor Bottas

Last year in Bahrain, Russell gained some experience in the Mercedes and did well in qualifying. Russell has been with Mercedes for many years (with Williams amongst others) and has shown that he can deliver consistent performance with a car of which not much is expected. Especially in qualifying he usually gets the most out of the Williams by often qualifying for Q2. Bottas (like Hamilton) has an expiring contract and Russell would be the logical successor to Hamilton and Mercedes next year to usher in a new era in Formula 1. Until then Russell will have to show himself in the Williams and Bottas can try to come close to the performance of Verstappen and Hamilton.