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Valtteri Bottas, George Russell, Instagram profiles, driver swap, Lewis Hamilton

Valtteri Bottas removed all mentions of Mercedes from his Instagram bio as F1 fans speculated whether it was a hint that he might be dropped for George Russell.

British star Russell, 22, has loaned most of the 2020 season to Williams from Mercedes.

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But he was recalled for the Sakhir GP by boss Toto Wolff after seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton dropped out with COVID-19.

Russell was in great shape all weekend, topping the charts in both training sessions and missing Bottas pole position by just 0.026 seconds.

He was then well on his way to winning his first Grand Prix after overtaking his teammate on lap one, but for what Wolff referred to as a “colossal f ***-up”.

The pit crew accidentally put one of Bottas’ tires on Russell’s car during a pit stop and forced him to get back in. Then debris on the track caused a puncture that put the British in ninth place.

Bottas was also the victim of terrible luck. He slipped to eighth place when a botched pit stop forced him to remain silent for nearly 30 seconds as the garage fitted his car with worn tires that were losing temperature.

Champion Hamilton is expected to return to the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi when he recovers from the coronavirus.

And he’ll likely still be Bottas ‘partner, with the Mercedes pair dominating all season to stay in the constructors’ 1-2.

Bottas is committed to driving for Mercedes next season and Russell has signed a deal with Williams too.

But both Bottas and Russell sparked a discussion about whether their plans for 2021 have changed after making minor changes to their Instagram profiles.

The Finn removed “Mercedes” from his biography after having it there before. His page is now: “Valtteri Bottas. Driver. # VB77. “

Meanwhile, Russell has removed Williams from his Instagram profile. His now reads: “George Russell. Formula 1 driver. “

Some online fans have speculated the couple could simply swap seats, with Russell at Mercedes and Bottas at Williams.

But others have suggested that Bottas could leave Formula 1 completely and turn to another racing sport, much like Fernando Alonso before him.

However, Mercedes responded to the chatter through its official Instagram account, alluding to the tizz by also changing the team biography.

“It’s just an Instagram bio. Don’t overthink it, ”the team wrote with a winking emoji.

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After the race, Russell said he hoped he had given Wolff “a headache, not just for 2022, maybe sooner” when it came to making a driver line-up decision, suggesting he would be happy to support Hamilton at the Silver Arrows.

“The best way to talk is on the line,” said Russell. “This is a performance industry and I hope this weekend has cemented their views on me.

“Mercedes has been supporting me since the end of 2016. You have followed my entire career very closely. Hopefully this is just another step up the ladder. “

Wolff, however, downplayed proposals that a permanent promotion was planned for Russell.

“He’s a Williams driver, he’s signed up with Williams and our drivers are Valtteri and Lewis,” said Wolff. “I don’t see this as a realistic situation at the moment.

“But I can understand that it would be an interesting situation to be a wild ride both in the team and for all of us.

“Maybe that will happen in the future.”

Bottas was visibly relieved that he had ultimately outperformed Russell at the Sakhir GP and finished one place ahead of the rookie after he had been robbed of a first race win by the mistake in the garage.

Bottas said, “I might have looked like a complete idiot, so that’s not nice.

“It was a pretty bad race for me from that side and it will be very easy for people to tell that a new man is coming in and beating the man who’s been on the team for a couple of years so it wasn’t ideal.

“He obviously drove a flawless race, but I still knew there was going to be everything I could play for.

“The race wasn’t over when we had the pit stop thing that changed everything.

“I managed to run a little longer on the middle tire and that would have opened up opportunities for me … I got him.”

With the sun

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