#and this is in no way meant to slight valtteri btw

[leqclerc]

Merc's junior program is rough! Look at Esteban - he was Toto's protege, the boy who beat Max in F3, the one who was lined up for a merc seat. But George came along, and Toto's focus has shifted entirely, and Esteban's left his Merc affiliation so he could actually get a seat. It's only a matter of time before Toto's next big thing comes along and George is forgotten too. They're worse than RB for this.

I don’t know if it’s worse than RB but...Look, I’ll give RB one (1) right and say that at least they give the young drivers a chance. They don’t give them enough support for them to thrive in their roles, the working environment is stressful and often downright toxic, and they obviously prioritize the other side of the garage, but at least they let them have a go, which is more than you can say for the young Mercedes drivers so far. 

Again, I was around for 2015-2016 when Pascal was a big young talent. He took part in various Mercedes events alongside Nico, Lewis and Toto, featured in photoshoots, etc. When Nico and Lewis’s intra-team conflict was at its peak - and later, when Nico unexpectedly announced his retirement - a lot of people were speculating that Pascal may be the answer. But Toto opted to go for the sensible option and used his Williams connection to get Valtteri instead, who was also a protégé of sorts. They initially gave him a one year contract to see how he performs and works alongside Lewis and...fast forward to present day and they’re still giving him one year contracts although he’s going into his...fifth season with them? Something like that. Meanwhile Pascal’s F1 career fizzled out, and he ended up racing in other categories. The Mercedes link was officially severed after 2018 (interestingly he was replaced at Sauber by...Charles himself.) In 2019 he actually became Ferrari’s development driver or simulator driver or something (I’ve seen it be called both things) but I personally haven’t seen him around much in that role, and with the FDA being a booming business...

Then you’ve got Esteban who also became, like you pointed out, Toto’s protégé. I didn’t follow his career too closely, I’ll be honest, but I do know he sort of benefited from that Mercedes link when they took him on as reserve driver in 2019 after Lawrence Stroll got involved in Force India/Racing Point and Lance took his place, letting him “sit out” the year but still sort of be involved in F1. According to Wikipedia, He was a contender to take the second Mercedes seat alongside Lewis Hamilton in 2020, however the team decided to continue with Valtteri Bottas. I don’t have the full picture, but my understanding is that (if you look at DTS’s portrayal of the situation at least) Toto was instrumental in securing Esteban the Renault drive from 2020 onwards. However, that meant he was no longer part of the Mercedes junior programme. So that’s another young driver they lost to other teams/racing categories. 

And then obviously there’s George who, admittedly, out of all them has gotten the closest to getting a shot at being a proper Mercedes F1 driver. Depending on how things work out, if Lewis indeed does decide to retire at the end of the 2021 season, I do think they might try to promote George. Whether he’ll be driving alongside Valtteri or whether they’ll opt for a completely fresh lineup going into the new reg era, I guess we’ll see. But I think 2022 is, like, the final call if they’re really serious about promoting George. Otherwise...either someone else will take him on (Red Bull has apparently expressed interest?) or he’ll be forced to take his career in another direction. 

If Red Bull are too brash and hasty in their decision-making, promoting and demoting drivers mid-season and trying to figure out what lineup works essentially through guesswork and trial and error, then Mercedes are too careful. And I get it. From their point of view, what they have right now works - they’re converting their work model to poles and wins which, in their mind, means that it’s a viable one. As much as they’re like, “Oh, hope some other team catches up and challenges us!” Mercedes like winning. They’re more than a team, they’re a business, one that’s run very efficiently. You can see Toto’s years of business involvement and investing coming through in the way they do things - they run a tight ship. Hell, even Ferrari - traditional, set in their ways Ferrari took a huge risk by promoting Charles after just one year in F1. A lot of people were very skeptical about their new lineup and a lot of people I think assumed Charles would crumble under the pressure - or, at the very least, not be able to keep up with the demands and pressures of being a young driver at Ferrari. And he ended up proving himself and two seasons later they’re trying to mold him into a leader that will take them to victory in the future. Something something does it ever drive you crazy just how fast the night changes. Maybe this is just the way Charles is; maybe he was given the support he felt he needed to thrive; maybe if it were anybody else it wouldn’t have worked out the way it did. But at least they took the chance - and it paid off. Mercedes are clinging to their current model because it works right now, but if they want to continue being competitive and being on top in years to come, then they really need to think of ways to shake things up. And I think Toto knows that. George is a huge asset; how and when they choose to utilize his skills is up to them. But the clock is ticking and I think Toto’s aware of that. While I have no personal emotional stake in the team, I’m curious to see what they decide to do going forward. I’m not sure they can afford (in the not strictly material sense) to lose George the way they did their previous young drivers.