Russell could replace Bottas before season end – report Date published: May 4 2021 Mercedes are ‘losing faith’ in Valtteri Bottas and could replace him with George Russell before the end of the season, according to the Daily Mail. The Silver Arrows are faced with a usual conundrum of whether to retain Bottas’ services for another season, with the Finn only ever signing one-year contracts since he replaced the retired Nico Rosberg ahead of the 2017 campaign. But, the difference this season is that the end of Bottas’ current contract also coincides with the end of what has effectively been a three-year ‘loan spell’ for Russell, who is also on Mercedes’ books, at Williams.