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Former Ferrari and Williams manager Peter Windsor has questioned the balance between the two Mercedes team-mates, suggesting that George Russell wouldn\u2019t be driving for the team if it was up to Lewis Hamilton.<\/p>\n
The seven-time world champion was extremely vocal in his appreciation for former team-mate Valtteri Bottas during their time together at Mercedes, and the 38-year-old was pushing for Toto Wolff to retain the Finnish driver beyond 2021.<\/p>\n
However, with Russell waiting patiently in the wings after impressing during his time with Williams, Wolff opted not to renew Bottas\u2019 deal. He instead made the switch to Alfa Romeo where he has endured an underwhelming 18 months in the lower midfield.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Speaking about the state of play at Mercedes after the Japanese Grand Prix, Windsor explained: \u201cThe point is this should also be seen in the context of Lewis telling Toto endlessly to keep Valtteri, \u2018He\u2019s exactly the right guy\u2019, and [Toto saying] \u2018No no, no, we\u2019ve got to have the next generation, George is the next generation, and quicker.\u2019<\/p>\n
Click here to join our WhatsApp community to be the first to receive breaking and exclusive F1 news.<\/strong><\/p>\n Don’t miss… <\/strong> Hamilton comes clean on Ferrari talks as Norris weighs in on Max Verstappen row[LATEST] <\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cI blame a lot of the press for that because a lot of them were saying \u2018Oh, you know Valtteri isn\u2019t quick enough, George is quicker\u2019 and, of course, then he won that race.<\/p>\n \u201cI just come back to my thing of\u2026 if you\u2019ve got Lewis, you don\u2019t actually need George. If you\u2019ve got George, you don\u2019t need Lewis. It\u2019s an imbalanced team, always has been, always will be, and that is the problem with it.\u201d<\/p>\n While Hamilton has only supported Russell in the public eye, the duo have had their fair share of hairy moments on track this season. The latest of these came at the Japanese GP when Hamilton shoved his team-mate wide on the exit of Spoon corner, prompting a frustrated radio message from Russell.<\/p>\n More F1… <\/strong> We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info<\/p>\n During their time as Mercedes team-mates, Hamilton and Bottas had no such falling out. Looking back on the duo\u2019s time together earlier this year, Hamilton explained: \u201cThere is always this delicate path to walk down, and it\u2019s very easy to be on the wrong side, and you fall out.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cValtteri and I never fell out. We always just spoke on things. He was very much just like he\u2019s got to do a better job, or I\u2019ve got to do a better job, if one of us beat each other. And we worked together to try and push the team together. We had amazing years together where he supported me, and I supported him.\u201d<\/p>\n
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