Russell makes dazzling start for Mercedes as Wolff scotches 'shoot-out' talk

Sakhir (Bahrain), December 5: George Russell upstaged Valtteri Bottas and carried on where Lewis Hamilton left off for Mercedes by heading the practice time sheets ahead of the Sakhir Grand Prix.

The stand-in for seven-time champion Hamilton, who is absent this week after testing positive for COVID-19, showed what a talent he already is and what a prospect he is for the future.

Russell was loaned to Mercedes from Williams, who have promoted reserve driver Jack Aitken to their team for the penultimate round of the 2020 F1 season.

F1 2020: Absent champion Hamilton opens door for Bottas and Russell in Sakhir

British driver Russell has been part of the Mercedes junior driver programme since 2017 and seized his first chance to shine behind the wheel of the Silver Arrow.

By switching teams on a temporary basis, Russell has gone from the back of the grid to the front, leaving a team with no points this season for the chance to drive a championship-winning car.

The 22-year-old's fastest lap of the day in Bahrain was 54.546 seconds in the first session, putting him ahead of Red Bull pair Max Verstappen and Alex Albon, who were second and third respectively.

Russell's fellow Mercedes driver Bottas was fourth quickest in that session, 0.322secs behind his temporary team-mate.

In the later session, Russell led the way again, clocking 54.713secs, with Verstappen second once more, while Sergio Perez (Racing Point) was third quickest.

This time Bottas could only trail in 11th, over 0.6 seconds behind Russell's pace.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff could not have failed to be impressed by Russell's performance, which the youngster will hope to repeat in qualifying on Saturday.

However, Wolff shut down suggestions Russell might be auditioning for a drive with the Mercedes team in 2022, dismissing talk of a "shoot-out" with Bottas.

"No, not at all. I've heard this rumour and obviously, you can't call it a shoot-out when it's about one or two races," Wolff said, quoted on the official F1 website.

"If George does well, it's an indication that one day he's going to be in a good car and hopefully race for victories and world championships.

"But that is far away. He knows that, he just needs to deliver a solid job, not make any mistakes and continue what he's done.

"There's no shoot-out. We have total trust in Valtteri and loyalty, as we've always had, and that is our position."

Sunday's race will be staged on a different, shorter track configuration to the one used for the Bahrain Grand Prix last Sunday, a race Hamilton won.