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Bottas move 'a delicate situation' - Wolff

Toto Wolff has described the Mercedes approach for Valtteri Bottas as "a delicate situation" and says it's no guarantee the Finn will join.

Bottas has been identified as Mercedes' top target to replace Nico Rosberg next season, with the 2016 drivers' champion having retired from F1 with immediate effect. While Williams has been working on contingency plans in case Bottas were to leave, Wolff says the approach doesn't necessarily mean Mercedes will choose to hire him.

"We have not yet made the decision because it involves more than just the driver and our team," Wolff told La Gazetta dello Sport. "We must have respect for other teams.

"Valtteri is an option but we also know how important he is for Williams. It's a delicate situation which requires us to move cautiously, so we've decided to take our time with it."

And Wolff dismissed any notion of there being a conflict of interest as he currently helps to manage Bottas, with the Mercedes boss saying he will step back from managing his career if the Williams driver joins.

"I'm not an idiot. When I joined Daimler four years ago, I signed a contract, so I can't manage or have a commercial interest in a Mercedes driver.

"It isn't a problem. The problem does not arise. Whoever is talking about a conflict of interest does not understand F1."

Silbermann says ... Merry Christmas

2016 driver ratings: 12-1

2016 driver ratings: 24-13

2016 team-by-team review: Part two

2016 team-by-team review: Part one

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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.