Wolff: Mercedes needs to be 'brave' with driver choice

40

Toto Wolff says Mercedes needs to be "brave" when it comes to choosing a driver to replace Nico Rosberg next season.

Rosberg's shock decision to retire from F1 with immediate effect off the back of winning his maiden drivers' championship has left Mercedes with a difficult task to replace the German at short notice. Wolff admits the timing has left his team on the back foot but says it will need to commit to a decision even if it comes with a lot of risk.

"Clearly, with Nico taking the decision quite late we are in a bit of a compromised situation because if we had known three months ago there were more options available," Wolff told Sky Sports. "Maybe we need to make a brave decision in the same way Nico has made a brave decision."

While Pascal Wehrlein is seen as one option, Wolff has recently admitted he would like to see the German complete a year or two in a midfield team having had just one season in F1 racing with Manor.

Another option is the more experienced Valtteri Bottas, but Wolff says he understands the importance of the Finn to Williams as he will lead the team alongside rookie Lance Stroll next season.

"Besides the personal relationship, where he's a very likeable and intelligent driver, he's also somebody who is very, very fast. But he's with Williams now, the lead driver, and is very important for the combination with Lance Stroll. Claire [Williams] and her team very much rely on him."

TECHNICAL: Under the skin of the Force India VJM09

FEATURE: Nico Rosberg in numbers

Mercedes: The candidates to replace Rosberg

From the cockpit: Felipe Nasr on his second set in F1

F1i Classic - Bowing out on a high

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.