George Russell's time to move up?

Amidst the uncertainty and rumours surrounding Lewis Hamilton's contract, many Formula 1 fans remain enraptured by George Russell's stunning Mercedes debut at the Sakhir Grand Prix back in December. While it was not as sweet as a victory, his time will surely come.

The drive turned the tide in favour of the Mercedes youngster, and coupled with Hamilton's contract tug-of-war and teammate Valtteri Bottas' underwhelming season, Russell emerged as a favourite for the seat.

However, Mercedes have yet to yield. With that in mind, here is a defence for Mercedes' decision to not promote George Russell for the upcoming 2021 Formula 1 season.

BREAKING: George Russell will drive for Mercedes in place of Lewis Hamilton at this weekend's Sakhir Grand PrixJack Aitken steps up for Williams#SakhirGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/fGJdr22fLH

— Formula 1 (@F1) December 2, 2020

George Russell - Mercedes' trump card

The decision to run George Russell (who was contracted to Williams Racing) ahead of Mercedes reserves Stoffel Vandoorne and Esteban Gutiérrez was strange to say the least. Especially since the former had both a valid Super License and was flown in before the start of the weekend following his duties for the Mercedes-Benz EQ team at the Formula E pre-season test in Valencia.

Having said that, it paid off for George Russell as his efforts during the weekend provided Mercedes with the headache of weighing his performance against the benchmarks set by Bottas and Hamilton throughout the season, particularly since Bottas was somewhat overshadowed all weekend long by Russell.

Mercedes now has George Russell's data in their car from the weekend and his performance relative to Bottas. Also, his heroics in the Williams throughout the 2020 season, especially during qualifying, was plain to see and his stellar junior single-seater career further attests to his consistency. Give him a faster car and the rest will follow. So why should Mercedes not gamble and try to cash in on their trump card in 2021?

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The defence for Valtteri Bottas and Mercedes

The decision to extend Bottas' contract by another season came into question following both his lacklustre season without much of a championship fight to Hamilton, and Russell's own performance in Bahrain.

Clearly, it was time to promote George Russell and pair him up with one of the greatest drivers in Formula 1 history. The results would be stellar and we would have been treated to a season-long championship battle.

It suits Mercedes, however, to keep the championship-winning formula going. With Hamilton's record-equaling seventh championship and Mercedes' seventh consecutive constructors' championship, the duo have dominated the current turbo-hybrid era.

With the delay in the new regulations, the two can aim to further Mercedes' domination and for this, the stability provided by Bottas helps. The Mercedes package will undoubtedly remain as the best of the field in 2021, as there is no rush to shuffle up the team just yet.

Also, they don't need a replay of their contentious 2016 campaign that saw Hamilton and his former teammate Nico Rosberg bang wheels on track. A safe and straightforward season ahead of the 2022 regulation change would be favourable to all involved.

Lewis Hamilton wins the 2020 F1 Drivers' Championship at the Turkish Grand Prix

Super George excels in Sakhir

During George Russell's Mercedes debut weekend at Sakhir, the car was too small for him, his racing boots were a size smaller, he could not fully brake and, even during the race, was still coming to grips with the unfamiliar Mercedes machinery.

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However, through it all, he persevered to get the better of Bottas for the most part. We love a good underdog story and outside of the big one of Sergio Perez's unlikely last to first victory at Sakhir, the George Russell arc of going from the slowest to the fastest car on the grid and coming so close to victory was perhaps one of the best of that evening.

But for all the feel-good moments of watching him take the lead into Turn 1 and his superb move around Bottas in Turn 5, the fact remains that the Sakhir Outer Circuit is hardly representative of the typical F1 circuit, with the exception of Monza. It is power sensitive, full of straights, and without any technical sections. It's a layout that perfectly suits a fast and planted car like the Mercedes.

#F1DriverOfTheDay @GeorgeRussell63 got 48% of your votes 👏#SakhirGP 🇧🇭 #F1 pic.twitter.com/BknYxvpFJ0

— Formula 1 (@F1) December 6, 2020

George Russell's merit, of course, was in his performance relative to his teammate but it still begs the question of how he would have done on a more representative track like Yas Marina or Barcelona. However, this does not discredit Russell's obvious talent. The Sakhir Grand Prix was a long time coming for him, having spent two seasons languishing in the back in a slower car, he had his chance to prove his talent, and it worked. His stock skyrocketed and bolstered his future in the sport.

But another season of learning and staying relatively under the radar isn't such a bad idea either. Mercedes can afford not to promote George Russell prematurely as they are under no pressure to change their successful driver pairing (unless Hamilton retires).

George Russell after qualifying on the front row for the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix

The best course of action then, is to allow him the time to improve and iron out some of his mistakes (that Imola crash for instance) and take up the championship-winning challenge when the new regulations hit in 2022. The Sakhir performance was also aided by factors such as no track data on a new layout, its power-sensitive nature and the dominance of the Mercedes in 2020 but it was also bolstered by a poor showing from Bottas. Make no mistake, George Russell is a star in the making and his time will come, and another season at Williams is nothing in the grand scheme of things.