Toto Wolff has confirmed a decision has been made on who will partner Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes in 2022.
An announcement was expected this weekend in Belgium before the Austrian said it would be September before any news would be made public.
Then on Thursday, both Valtteri Bottas and George Russell brushed off questions, insisting there was nothing new to share.
On Saturday, however, after Russell claimed second on the grid in a wet qualifying at Spa-Francorchamps, the Mercedes chief all-but revealed the news Formula 1 is waiting for.
“Yes,” he said when asked twice if he had chosen his second driver for next season. “You know I’ve always been genuine with you.
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“If it would have been an easier decision we would have made it earlier because we know what we have with Valtteri and we know what we have with George,” he continued.
“Both of them deserve being looked after in the best possible way because both of them are part of the family and we hold them up high.”
With Lewis Hamilton publicly vouching for Bottas, the Austrian also downplayed possible tensions between the seven-time champion and Russell.
“There are pros and cons with any driver line-up, and in the end, there is no such thing as a perfect discussion,” he claimed.
“We just need to manage it well and manage the situation well with whoever is not going to be in a Mercedes next year to ensure there is an exciting program.
“On the other side, we also need to manage the situation internally like we always have with Nico [Rosberg] and George.”
On Thursday, Russell admitted it would be a privilege to test himself next to Hamilton.
“As any driver, they want to go against the best and obviously Lewis is probably the greatest of all time,” he said. “You want to put yourself against and see how you fare. It would probably be an honour to get that opportunity.
“That’s obviously all hypothetical at the moment. These are the same comments as I’ve said three years ago, but if I could choose to race against anybody as my teammate, Lewis would be the one.”
The 23-year-old also has the backing of two drivers who will likely be his main rivals in F1 for years to come, Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc.
“For sure George is very quick and he can’t stay where he is forever,” the Red Bull driver said when asked if Russell should join Mercedes next season.
“I think he deserves more, but at the end of the day, it is up to Mercedes to make the call right, so it’s not really from my side.
“But for sure I rate him as a driver and he is still very young as well, so it’s natural that at some point they move up, especially the good drivers.”
As for Ferrari driver Leclerc, he added: “It’s great if George gets that seat because he deserves it.
“It is always very difficult to judge in Formula 1 because the cars are so different and obviously with George being at Williams it is always difficult to judge how much of a good job he’s doing.
“He’s consistently there and showing good things and also in the past I’ve raced with him and I know how strong he is.
“So, he definitely deserves that spot and I think it would be great to have such a talented driver in that seat.”
