Valtteri Bottas and George Russell shared the same message as the wait to hear who will drive for Mercedes in 2022 continues.
Team boss Toto Wolff had identified the summer break to decide whether he sticks with Bottas for a sixth year alongside Lewis Hamilton or promotes Russell from Williams.
Perhaps in anticipation of an announcement, the FIA put the two drivers together first for Thursday’s press conference ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix, but the media didn’t get the answers they were hoping for.
“Maybe I know something, maybe I don’t, but like I said there’s no news to share,” said Bottas. “I don’t need to clarify any reasons for that.”
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With the upcoming Spa, Zandvoort and Monza tripleheader, Russell then confirmed it may be a few weeks until anything is confirmed.
“Obviously [we were] in discussions over the summer break but there’s nothing to announce, one way or another, this weekend, and probably not next weekend either to be honest,” he commented.
“I think it is no problem to do things right rather than quickly.
“We’re fortunate that we are both looked at in ways by Mercedes and we both trust them to look after our futures one way or another.
“From my side, there are no real problems and whether it’s tomorrow, whether it’s after Abu Dhabi, you have to trust the people who are looking out for you.”
While Russell has the assurance of another year at Williams if he doesn’t get the nod, Bottas would face greater uncertainty over his future, although Alfa Romeo is understood to be closely following the Finn.
“It’s not problematic, it’s nothing new for me,” he said of the wait. “The situation overall, I’m fine with it completely, just really head down and focus for the weekend.
“I’m pretty sure the next few weeks will fly by with the tripleheader and the battle in our hands as a team is the main focus. Things eventually will sort themselves out and we’ll see.”