Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton is yet to officially sign with Mercedes for 2021 and beyond even though many expect it to be a mere formality given the highly successful partnership between the two. After George Russell impressed quite a few people as Hamilton’s stand-in after Hamilton’s positive Covid-19 diagnosis, some people including Red Bull’s team principal Christian Horner have suggested that he could be used as a negotiation tool while discussing the terms of Hamilton’s future contract. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has now spoken about this Link to poll: https://www.youtube.com/post/UgwX0cqDKULLClzkVb54AaABCQ 0:00 - Is Russell Being Used To Further Contract Negotiations With Hamilton? 1:44 - Fast Feed I'm your host Dillon Shelley and first up on Formula World: Is Russell Being Used To Further Contract Negotiations With Hamilton? Horner gave his thoughts on the possibility of Russell being used by Mercedes to negotiate a deal with Hamilton “I’m sure Toto’s looking to use it to perhaps negotiate Lewis’s contract in some way, shape, or form. So, it will be fascinating to see how it plays out, but it’s great to see another youngster getting that chance and opportunity” Wolff then explained how Hamilton’s recent diagnosis has affected the contract negotiation timeline “The timeline is being pushed back until he recovers. We know that we need to get it done – pretty well aware both of us – but the priority now is of him getting back on his feet and being [Covid] negative. Then we will meet or Zoom in order to put pen to paper” He then revealed if George Russell’s outing with Mercedes will be used as leverage “No. We know what we have with Lewis and he knows what he has with the team. Such a situation would never be utilized as some kind of bargaining power, neither by him nor by us” He signed off by explaining why nothing that happens in Sakhir or at Abu Dhabi will have any effect on the contract negotiations with Hamilton “I respect very much who he is and how he drives, his records, and whatever happens this weekend or next has no influence on our talks” Fast Feed F2 driver Yuki Tsunoda feels that he has “to work even harder to become like” Anthoine Hubert and added that “it is an honour to receive” the Anthoine Hubert Award Red Bull’s Alex Albon revealed that “it's very clear where the deficit to” his teammate Max Verstappen is and that he “could tell” where he “was slow without looking at the data” McLaren’s Carlos Sainz has explained that George Russell’s stint with Mercedes “demonstrates what Formula 1 is missing out from, by having cars that are two seconds apart He added that “pretty much the whole grid could be within three tenths of a second because of the talent there is on the grid” He further stated that “it's a shame that a guy that is fighting for P15 every weekend, suddenly when you put him in a race winning car, he's 20 thousandths off pole” He also feels that F1 can create “a much more incredible show if” they “could level the playing field a bit more and allow the driver to make more of a difference” Outgoing Haas driver Romain Grosjean had earlier stated that he will “call every F1 team to see if they want to organize a private test in January” if he was not able to take part in the race in Abu Dhabi Now that it has been confirmed that he won’t take part in the final race this season, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has confirmed that if they “get permission to do that and the other teams” Grosjean “has driven with don't give him that option”, Mercedes “will” Red Bull’s Max Verstappen feels that Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc’s lunge during the Sakhir GP that ended both their races prematurely “was totally unnecessary” He further thinks “it was stupid and it shouldn't have happened” Will Russell be used a bargaining tool in Mercedes negotiations with Hamilton?