*Stick or twist? David Tremayne on Mercedes' big decision – and where Bottas could go if he does leave

*原標(biāo)題：是走是留？資深記者解析博塔斯的未來，以及潛在加盟車隊

**譯文版權(quán)up所有，原文及圖片摘自F1官網(wǎng)，有刪減

There are some people who will tell you categorically that George Russell will get his big break with Mercedes next year, others who are adamant that Valtteri will stay. So let’s consider both cases.

有些車迷會列出各種條條框框，來告訴你明年拉塞爾會如何在奔馳取得大突破。而另一些人，則堅定地認(rèn)為博塔斯會留隊。那么，這兩種情況我們不妨都來考慮考慮。

Ever since Nico Rosberg’s sudden retirement at the end of 2016, his world championship crown safely tucked away, Mercedes have been very wary of getting caught out again, and if Lewis has two more seasons it starts making sense to team him with the man Mercedes see as their next long-termer and let George get fully integrated before Lewis retires.

自從羅斯伯格在2016賽季末那突如其來的退役，攜冠而走之后，奔馳必然將小心翼翼防止類似事情再次發(fā)生。既然目前漢密爾頓只有一份新的兩年合同，對奔馳來說，尋找下一個保險的長期合作對象，并讓拉塞爾在漢退役前融入車隊，就顯得愈發(fā)合理。

George did a superb job standing in for Covid-affected Lewis in Sakhir last year, and actually lost that race twice. As ‘take-me!’ performances go, it was… compelling.

拉塞爾在去年替補(bǔ)漢密爾頓出賽的巴林一鳴驚人。觸霉頭的英國人雖然輸?shù)袅吮荣?，但這種“該選小爺我了”的超絕賽場表現(xiàn)，實在是讓人信服。

He is also out of contract at Williams at the end of this year, and they won’t want to do a one-year deal just to appease Mercedes should the latter decide to wait another year for him.

他同威廉姆斯的合同也將在季末到期。不過，即便奔馳愿意再等一年，威廉姆斯也不會為了迎合而同意一紙一年短約的。

Valtteri, meanwhile, has had a horrible season. His rant against Mercedes’ strategy in France, where he complained very vocally over the radio that nobody had been listening when he suggested switching to a two-stop, may simply have been the action of a very frustrated man. Or a racer at last simply flexing his muscles to demand a better shake. Or one who no longer cares about protocols in the belief that his fate may already be sealed.

與此同時，博塔斯的賽季就有點(diǎn)糟心了。芬蘭車手在法國站對車隊策略制定大感不滿，為無人聽取自己的兩停建議而憤懣沮喪，失望的咆哮更顯無助。這是車手最終下決心要為自己爭得一席之地的？還是命運(yùn)板上釘釘之人的破罐破摔？

But here’s the thing: no matter how squashed he gets by the vagaries of fate out on the track, he always gets up. He always regroups, and he always sets out for the next race like the brave young adventurer who believes that life will be better from now on. You want that determination and commitment to pay off for him.

不過你也得這么想：不論再怎么賽道上被命運(yùn)捉弄，博塔斯總能想辦法克服。芬蘭人永遠(yuǎn)能做到努力向前看，然后在下一場比賽前像一個新人冒險家那樣，堅信一切都會好起來。人們總會相信，如此決心和毅力一定會讓他再次振作。

That’s precisely the sort of man you want on your team, and it makes him a perfect foil for Lewis in many ways. But lately the consistency has been lacking, hence his lowly current position.

這正是一直車隊所理想的車手，一個漢密爾頓的完美搭檔。只不過最近博塔斯的穩(wěn)定性有所下降，導(dǎo)致了現(xiàn)階段較低的排名。

It’s said that Lewis would like him to stay because he knows he can rely on him, but Toto Wolff made clear last week that the choice of drivers is down to him as the boss.

據(jù)說連漢密爾頓本人，在最近都透露，他希望博塔斯留隊，因為他知道自己可以依靠芬蘭人。不過托托·沃爾夫明確表示，決定權(quán)在作為車隊老板的他手中。

There are some who whisper that the decision to switch to George has already been made, though neither he nor Valtteri has yet been told. That seems a teensy bit precipitous to me, but let’s just suppose that Valtteri does have to leave. Where else could he go? Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren, Alpha Tauri, Aston Martin, Alpine and Haas all look pretty settled for 2022, which appears to leave just Williams and Alfa Romeo.

圍場中還有一些聲音，聲稱交換拉塞爾的決定已經(jīng)成行，盡管當(dāng)事兩位車手對此一無所知。要我看來，這結(jié)論有些武斷，不過我們不妨順著假設(shè)，要是博塔斯真走了呢？他去哪？圍場里看起來還有明年席位的只剩威廉姆斯和阿爾法·羅密歐了。（譯者插播：阿拉周冠宇那能辦哦…）

It’s unthinkable that Williams will not start to make significant progress under the new management of Jost Capito, and their situation looks a lot better already after George’s strong showing last week.

在卡皮托接手后，威廉姆斯不可能不想著要大干一番，重塑輝煌的。進(jìn)來拉塞爾的強(qiáng)勢表現(xiàn)也印證了車隊正在正確的道路上爬升。

The new Williams will not just need a quick wheelman to act as team leader. If you look at the modus operandi that Capito and new technical director Francois-Xavier Demaison have employed working together in the past at Volkswagen Motorsport, they like to hire an experienced driver who has demonstrated the ability to win races against the best and knows what it takes to battle for world championships.

新生的威廉姆斯不會只滿足于一個“快”的車手，他們會傾向于尋找經(jīng)驗豐富，知道如何同其他冠軍競爭，知道如何獲勝，并了解怎樣才能去爭奪世界冠軍的車手。這從卡皮托昔日在大眾的方針就可見一斑。

Remind you of anyone who might be looking for a drive and a new challenge?

一個樂于有車開且想要新挑戰(zhàn)的有經(jīng)驗車手，怎么樣，你是不是想到了誰？

原文地址：

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.stick-or-twist-david-tremayne-on-mercedes-big-decision-and-where-bottas.1Uk8YgnHXt2g69lMnodQvq.html