84 percent of F1 fans believe that Mercedes should replace Sir Lewis Hamilton with George Russell for the upcoming season, which is set to get underway in around two months.
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That’s according to a poll by Formula1News.co.uk which asked 1,149 readers if they believe the Silver Arrows should ditch Hamilton for Russell, or instead focus on hammering out a contract extension with the seven-time World Champion.
George Russell impressed when he filled in for Hamilton at Mercedes in Bahrain, with him almost matching Valtteri Bottas in qualifying and looking set to win the grand prix before the Silver Arrows came unstuck.
And, the young Brit’s salary demands would be a fraction of Hamilton’s, so signing Russell would certainly be the better option for Mercedes from a financial standpoint.
However, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff recently said that they haven’t used the “George Russell card” against Hamilton in contract negotiations, as they don’t believe in using such “threatening gestures.”
“We never played the George Russell card. He did incredibly well and will one day be in a top car, but our long-standing partnership is not at all about making any threatening gestures.
“We know we want to race together. And now we have to negotiate the contract,” Wolff added.
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