Nico Rosberg believes that Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is taking an almighty risk by replacing Valtteri Bottas with George Russell ahead of next season.
The latter, who stepped in for Lewis Hamilton at last year’s Sakhir Grand Prix in Bahrain, was involved in his new team’s post-season testing programme earlier this week.
“George was right there with Valtteri straight away, so that will give George a lot of confidence that he can get the job done and he will be quick enough,” Rosberg told Sky Sports F1.
“It was a difficult decision for Toto, because the risk is quite high. If George is really on exactly the same pace as Lewis, it could become really intense in the team.
“There are a lot of unknowns there, is George always going to back out, or is he going to get his elbows out? That’s just going to be so great to watch.”