Formula 1: Tension already brewing inside Mercedes?

According to one source, things are growing increasingly frustrating within Mercedes regarding one of their two Formula 1 drivers.

The so-called “underdogs” opened up the 2021 Formula 1 season with two wins in the first three races, with Lewis Hamilton delivering Mercedes victories ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in two events while settling for second place behind the 23-year-old Dutchman in the other one.

But things have not gone nearly as smoothly for Hamilton’s teammate, Valtteri Bottas.

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Bottas sits behind not only Hamilton and Verstappen but also McLaren’s Lando Norris, who has had a sensational start to his third season with McLaren, in the driver standings through three events with two third place finishes and a disastrous DNF.

Bottas is in a contract year with the Silver Arrows yet again.

He is in his fifth season with the team, and he has never competed on more than a one-year deal. There has been speculation about changes within the Mercedes garage for the 2022 season for quite some time.

Never has that speculation been more appropriate and justified than it is now.

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It’s obvious that Bottas has never been on par with his seven-time world champion teammate; in all fairness, not many are even close. Bottas has nine wins to Hamilton’s 44 since the paid became teammates in 2017. To put that in perspective, Hamilton’s lowest single-season win total over the last seven seasons is nine.

With that being said, the fact that Bottas was beaten handily by George Russell in last year’s Sakhir Grand Prix at Bahrain International Circuit — of course, before two circumstances out of Russell’s control hindered him late in the race — when Russell filled in for the COVID-19-positive Hamilton in a car he barely fit inside, one that left him with bloody knuckles, doesn’t exactly bode well for the 31-year-old Finn.

The fact that he was being passed by Russell — that is, when Russell was driving the Williams, not the Mercedes — in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix last month when the two collided and had a massive crash, coupled with the fact that he could only convert his recent Portuguese Grand Prix pole into a third place finish also doesn’t exactly bode well for him.

As such, there is reportedly growing frustration and tension within the Mercedes factory, and that could end up resulting in Russell, who is a part of Mercedes’ young driver program, replacing Bottas before the 2021 season ends.

According to Daily Mail, an anonymous Mercedes engineer had this to say about the matter.

"“There is some unrest at the factory about Valtteri. He is not up to it, which was made clearer by the job we saw Russell do in Bahrain.”"

Russell’s three-year deal with Williams expires at the end of the 2021 season, so an early move to Mercedes, which many expect him to make in 2022 anyway, would give the Grove-based team the ability to test out another driver ahead of next year.

The fact that this year’s Mercedes vs. Red Bull battle looks to be much closer not just on the driver side with Hamilton and Verstappen but on the constructor side could also prompt the change, as Bottas playing second fiddle to Hamilton may not be good enough to keep the Brackley-based team ahead of the Milton Keynes-based operation this time around.

Bottas has refuted the rumor, as has team boss Toto Wolff, so it is likely that nothing will come of out of the supposed “unrest” as far as the driver lineup is concerned, at least not in 2021.

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Will Bottas finish out the 2021 season with Mercedes, or will Russell replace him before the year ends? There are 20 races remaining on this year’s 23-race schedule, the next one being this Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. ESPN is set to broadcast it live beginning at 9:00 a.m. ET.

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