© Wolfgang Wilhelm for Daimler AG
While Toto Wolff admits he has “discussed” 2022 team-mate options with Lewis Hamilton, he says Lewis “has no preference as to who should be in the car”.
It’s no secret that Mercedes will pick either Valtteri Bottas or their junior driver George Russell, as Lewis Hamilton’s team-mate for 2022.
Team boss Toto Wolff says the decision will be made over the summer break.
“We have to put our heads together in Brackley and discuss the matter with Mercedes in order to work out what our future driver pairing should look like,” the Austrian told Motorsport-Total.com.
“We will come together over the summer, reach a decision then decide how we want to communicate this.”
Many F1 observers are fond of making up rumours that say Lewis Hamilton has the ability to veto Mercedes’ choice on who his team-mate will be, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
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Not only does Lewis not have that ability, but according to Wolff, he doesn’t even want to get involved in these decisions.
“We have always been very transparent with our drivers. Because of my personal relationship with Lewis, we have of course discussed many scenarios.
“Lewis is okay with both scenarios, and he understands the pros and cons that speak for Valtteri and George.
“Lewis has never tried to influence the decision and he has no preference as to who should be in the car.
“He likes the relationship with Valtteri, and we know it too, but he never said that he would like this or that best,” concluded Mercedes’ team boss.
