While George Russell’s Sakhir GP performance has put Valtteri Bottas under immense pressure, it is also an uncomfortable moment for Lewis Hamilton. “Hamilton wants to be paid more, but Mercedes has seen this weekend that a young driver like Russell can also do the job,” former F1 driver Christijan Albers told De Telegraaf. Another former driver, Robert Doornbos, told Ziggo Sport: “The negotiations between Hamilton and Wolff were already difficult. “He could have just put the reserve driver in that car, so it was also political. “Hamilton is asking for 50 million while the boss of Daimler, who is now a big Formula 1 fan, wants to cut the company’s Formula 1 expenses.

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