I still believe Bottas is unintentionally playing the perfect #2 driver for Merc, they're going for records with Hamilton and if Max is looking like he's going to swipe the drivers title this year they'd be better sticking with Bottas so Hamilton can have another shot without an internal challenge, but once they have the 8th title for Hamilton they'd want Russell in the car to get him up to speed learning from one of the best on the field. The 2022 cars are a massive unknown, would they suit Bottas better, are Merc even going to be competitive with it, is anyone else going to make a leap forwards, would a fresher driver make the difference?
There's talks of a soft landing to Alfa for Bottas as they want someone experienced to partner up with another Ferrari academy driver