Valtteri Bottas did himself, and his future at Mercedes, no favours with his costly Turn 1 crash at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix, with Ralf Schumacher suggesting the end in black is nigh for the Finn.
While many argue that his role as a wingman is exactly what Lewis Hamilton needs and that Bottas is the best number two a team could wish for, Ralf is not so sure.
Speaking as a pundit for Sky Sport Germany, the six-time Grand Prix winner said: "No intention of the crash by Bottas: "I think the Mercedes chapter is over for him, and I can imagine he's negotiating with Williams or Alfa.
"I completely rule out that Bottas caused the crash on purpose. He is currently fighting for a cockpit in Formula 1 and was totally dejected himself. In addition, he could not calculate or plan to tap another car in front of you.
"Anyone who suspects a conspiracy should think about that. Such a blatant mistake doesn't help his cause at all, and he knows it," added Schumacher.
The crash also gravely impacted the championship standings for Red Bull and their ace Max Verstappen. Ahead of Hungary, the tensions were already at boiling point, the Bottas incident, which knocked out Sergio Perez and seriously damaged Verstappen's car, made matters worse for the contenders.
It could well be the difference between this year's championship trophies ending up at Brackley yet again, and not at Milton Keynes, where many believed the 2021 F1 champions' silverware was likely to head.
Schumacher continued: "After Bottas' crash at the start, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff sought to apologise but Red Bull team boss Chris Horner didn't want to accept the apology. This shows how tense the situation is between the two teams. The annoyance for Red Bull is understandable, even if it was of course not deliberate by Bottas.
"Red Bull had a good run [until the British Grand Prix] but after they have lost their way a bit. Max would have competed for victory in Hungary, so it was more than a shame and annoyance for him," explained Ralf.
If Bottas is ditched by Mercedes, his options are to swap seats with George Russell at Williams who is more than ready to step up; or, as Ralf suggests, move to Alfa Romeo where, fellow Finn, Kimi Raikkonen could well be in his final season.
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