Red Bull boss Christian Horner has called on Mercedes to put trust in young drivers as they decide who should replace Nico Rosberg.
The world champions are believed to be down to just two options for 2017 as Fernando Alonso confirmed earlier this week he would be staying at McLaren.
Valtteri Bottas is the preferred choice with four years of experience under his belt, ties to Toto Wolff and a reputation as a high-quality talent. As for Pascal Wehrlein, he has had success with Mercedes in DTM and produced several notable performances in his rookie F1 season at Manor.
Horner, who has a history of putting faith in youth with potential over experience and reputation at Red Bull, claims Mercedes would be wise to follow his lead.
“You give these guys a chance,” Horner told the BBC. “Let’s see what people can do in a front-running car.
“If they did take Wehrlein or Bottas, both are probably capable of running right at the front, you just don’t know until you give them the chance, which is what we did with Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo.
“A lot of people were saying we should take Kimi Raikkonen at the time we took Ricciardo. Until you give them the chance, you don’t really get to see if they can cut it at the front.”
Since 2009, Red Bull have run a policy of allowing the drivers who have come through their program to cut their teeth at Toro Rosso with the most impressive later promoted to Red Bull.
The last driver to join the team who hadn’t previously driven for Toro Rosso was Mark Webber in 2007.
Under a similar policy, Mercedes would likely go for Wehrlein as he has the greater association with the German carmaker. The move would also be reminiscent of Daniil Kvyat’s promotion in 2015, which was likely a few years early but was somewhat forced on Red Bull at the time.
Another driver following the same path is Carlos Sainz, who had something of a breakout year at Toro Rosso this season. Speculation has even indicated Mercedes as considering the Spaniard for their seat, though Horner was quick to squash any potential move.
“Why would we do that?” he said. “Carlos has done a great job. He is a Red Bull driver. We have invested in him to get him into F1 and they are all on long-term contracts so it wouldn’t make any sense to feed one of your main opponents with one of your assets.”
Mercedes were left limited in their choice of replacements due to the timing of Rosberg’s announcement, however, whoever the Brackley team goes for, whether it be Bottas or Wehrlein, should be a long-term choice.
It is vital that the hierarchy commits to whoever sits alongside Lewis Hamilton next season and ultimately, what may seem a quandary right now, may prove beneficial a few years down the line.
