Since he joined the serial world champions, Valterri Bottas' future with Mercedes has always been a headline grabber during the silly season, but this year it's serious as the lobby to get George Russell in his seat has ramped up substantially.
There are two sides to the Bottas story:
- He is the sports greatest number two, a key to Mercedes run of title wins that have been unbroken since he joined the team in 2017. A perfect Wingman in Lewis Hamilton's remarkable tale of dominance;
- He underperforms relative to Lewis, was humbled by Russell in the young Englishman's single outing for Mercedes last year at Sakhir; collided with the Williams driver at Imola and this year is not quite on the boil.
Those are the facts that face Toto Wolff when he decides who will partner Hamilton next year. But anything less than Mercedes will be a big backward step for Bottas and it is unlikely Red Bull or Ferrari are going to come calling.
In other words, if his Merc deal ends expect Bottas to slide out of the limelight and end up with Williams as his most likely option, which is several backward steps rolled into one for his career.
In the wake of Hamilton inking a two-year extension with Merc, Bottas is well aware that decision time for him is happening: "Obviously I want to get the understanding from the team, what is the plan, which driver they want in the other car.
"Lewis is confirmed, the other is still free, so the team needs to decide. I need to have that discussion but I also feel like I have many, many years still left in me.
"I enjoy racing, I love racing, I love F1, so it's definitely not done to go to another form of sport or motorsport in the coming years," explained Bottas to reporters in Austria last weekend.
But the reality is that UK media are baying for his blood as they push for Russell to partner Hamilton, which in an ideal world, fairytale kind of way works: The King of F1 - Sir Lewis Hamilton mentors Prince Russell to stardom before riding into the sunset."
But that's not how race drivers are wired, as Russell will have one thing on his mind from the moment he steps into a Black Arrow as Hamilton's teammate, beat him! All he would have to do is watch reruns of the 2007 season to see how a Young Gun can rattle a multiple World Champion.
Thus Wolff has to make the decision, either keep it civil and harmonious as it is or make the change and risk the Merc garage becoming Toxic City as it was until 2016 and Nico Rosberg had enough of going up against Lewis. The relentless head games, forced nastiness etc.
Nevertheless, Bottas is aware he might be dropped and could be looking around for another team: "If that was the case that I wouldn't continue with Mercedes, of course, I would look at other options. But it's not something I need to think about now.
"I also have a good management team, and they haven't told me anything yet. I don't know if they've been in touch with anyone, because they know how important it is to focus on at this current moment and delivering the best we can, as a team and for me personally.
"And the time will be right soon. I don't know yet which day, which week. But I think yes, we'll have to look at all the options and the situation as a whole," added Bottas.
In his favour is one can be sure Hamilton wants to keep his teammate; it would be hard to gauge what the sentiment is at Brackley and Brixworth in the trenches but, with the seven-time World Champ signed, one would imagine a decision on Bottas would follow shortly thereafter.
The longer it takes for Wolff to delay the announcement - Bottas or Russell - would suggest that the latter is the favoured contender; also because George's management team were allegedly told he has the seat and Valtteri was out.
Meanwhile, speaking after the Hamilton news, puppetmaster Wolff is intent on keeping everyone hanging: “We're happy with Valtteri’s racing in Austria, in my opinion, he was really good and needs to consolidate that. He’s a known factor.
“In the same way we know the strengths and weaknesses of George, and that decision is going to be made during the summer. First discussions with George and Valtteri and then hopefully we are sorted before the end of the season.
"We value them both for their strengths and for what they can contribute to the team," added Wolff who, apart from running the Mercedes motorsport programme, has been involved with both drivers on a personal management level.
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