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Formula 1: Ranking the chances of the 4 primary Mercedes candidates for 2020

By Asher Fair

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 17: Race winner Valtteri Bottas of Finland and Mercedes GP and third placed Max Verstappen of Netherlands and Red Bull Racing celebrate on the podium during the F1 Grand Prix of Australia at Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit on March 17, 2019 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 17: Race winner Valtteri Bottas of Finland and Mercedes GP and third placed Max Verstappen of Netherlands and Red Bull Racing celebrate on the podium during the F1 Grand Prix of Australia at Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit on March 17, 2019 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images) /
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BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN – MARCH 29: Valtteri Bottas driving the (77) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes W10 (Photo by Charles Coates/Getty Images)
BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN – MARCH 29: Valtteri Bottas driving the (77) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes W10 (Photo by Charles Coates/Getty Images) /

No. 77. Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Mercedes. VALTTERI BOTTAS. #1.

Valtteri Bottas was the subject of replacement rumors at Mercedes for the 2018 and 2019 seasons, so the rumors that he may be replaced by another driver at the Brackley-based team ahead of the 2020 season are nothing new to him.

With all things considered, the 29-year-old Finn is still the favorite to return to Mercedes next season and to be Lewis Hamilton’s teammate for the fourth consecutive season, even if he is not the overwhelming favorite like he has been in past seasons.

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Bottas, while his race results and finishes in the driver standings have been the worst among those of the three drivers who have driven for Mercedes at any point since the V6 turbo hybrid era began in the 2014 season, has proven on multiple occasions that he can serve as a great team player to the five-time champion, and he has also proven that he himself can contend for race victories.

In fact, through the first two races of the 2019 season, he leads the driver standings ahead of Hamilton in second place, as he won the season opener, the Australian Grand Prix, before finishing in second in the season’s second race, the Bahrain Grand Prix.

If he can continue to establish himself as a legitimate championship contender, Mercedes would have no reason not to utilize the additional one-year option on the one-year contract extension that he signed last summer.

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Of the four primary candidates to be Lewis Hamilton’s teammate at Mercedes in the 2020 Formula 1 season, Valtteri Bottas, Esteban Ocon, George Russell and Max Verstappen, who do you believe has the best chance of driving for the Silver Arrows next year?

With only two of the 21 races on the 2019 schedule having been contested, don’t expect to know the answer to this question for at least another several months, but be sure not to forget about it.

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