According to Mercedes, “there is some unrest at the factory about Valtteri.”

The Daily Mail reported a Mercedes source as saying that Williams driver George Russell might take Valtteri Bottas’ place at the end of the 2021 season.

Last time out in Portugal, the Finn was on pole, but he couldn’t keep up with Mercedes teammate Sir Lewis Hamilton and lost time to Max Verstappen owing to a slow pit stop and a mechanical issue.

Bottas is currently fourth in the Drivers’ Standings after finishing third at Portimao, following his teammate by just 48 points.

It has long been known that Russell has a strong chance of joining Mercedes next year, but the young Brit could reportedly make an in-season switch.

“There is some unrest at the factory about Valtteri,” a Mercedes source reported.

“He is not up to it, which was made clearer by the job we saw Russell do in Bahrain.”

Toto Wolff, Mercedes’ team principal, said earlier this month that the team needs to observe how the upcoming races go before making a decision on the team’s driver lineup for next year.

“I hope one day that I wake up and it becomes clear,” Wolff said.

“I think we need to look into the season and how the next races unfold and then it is a judgement call I believe. Not a very scientific response but I haven’t got any at the moment.”

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