What if George Russell outqualifies & outscores Valtteri Bottas this weekend (5/6 Dec 2020)?

At most, i can see Mercedes switching George and Bottas. However I don't think it will happen because Mercedes know the best way to win the drivers title is to back 1 driver especially if RBR get closer. Bottas is the ideal second driver. He picks up enough points to get the constructors.

If Russell does do very very well this weekend, i can see Mercedes going into the Hamilton contract negotiations with a fairly safe backup in case he prices himself out of the deal. The better Russell does this weekend, the lower Hamiltons salary gets.

Well he got within 1/50 sec of pole.

OK racing is far harder than qualifying but  I doubt if he’d be allowed to win, it would make Hamilton’s achievement massively less impressive.

so what if he does?, Bottas has lost motivation to do well, however and this maybe your point, doesn't it signify that maybe just maybe Hamilton is not as good as some crazy pundits and critics say?.....i keep reminding everybody hamilton switched to Mercedes 1 season before they became the best team, ie best and fastest car, and has been with that team for over a decade   you see?,   none of the other greatest legends have in my opinion, and this season in particular mercedes have tech upgarde that in my opinion should be banned   the DAS    (dual axis steering) i think it's called which has made the best car even better....this needs to go as does   DRS  ERS    limited tyre choices  ABS systems and even TCS,  then we  will see who actually is the best driver, rather than best car, they need to do something fast because the facts are f1 is a dying sport and it's almost all due to technology creating a hierarchy and rules which are helping to keep that hierarchy,  the demise of Ferrari this season really has not helped that trend..

do i think Russel  wins on sunday?,    well why not?,  he's a decent enough driver..

It will be interesting to see although Russell has been around Mercedes for quite some time.   I too can't see Mercedes dropping Bottas if he's out driven in just the one race.    If Hamilton moves on, for whatever reason, I see Bottas as moving up to their No.1 driver with ??? coming into the team.  But things could change!!

Later - Toto has now said whatever Russell does in place of Hamilton will NOT affect what might or might not happen between their current two drivers.   And especially not Hamilton's contract negotiations.

George Russell was a Mercedes reserve driver in 2018, so he has history with the team, Mercedes will not drop Bottas early based on one race.