George Russell reveals how close Valtteri Bottas came to Mercedes F1 return

George Russell has revealed his illness during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend would have ruled him out had it been at a more physically demanding track.

It emerged on Thursday that Russell was feeling under the weather, forcing the Briton to miss media day.

He nevertheless jumped behind the wheel for the race weekend but struggled throughout the three days.

Despite not feeling up to full health, Russell enjoyed a competitive race and crossed the line in P2 for his best result since his victory at Canada.

With Singapore coming up in two weeks, Russell stated Mercedes would have had to resort to reserve driver Valtteri Bottas around such a physically tough circuit if that weekend had been ahead of the one in Azerbaijan.

“Fortunately, it was Baku,” Russell told the media, including RacingNews365. “Even though it's one of the toughest circuits mentally. Physically, it's maybe one of the easiest. 

“Today I was much better. Friday and Saturday, I was really rough. Had it been Singapore, as an example, I think I probably would have called it a day on Friday, to be honest, and probably wouldn't have done the race. 

“Fortunate timing. I haven't been ill for a couple of years, actually. So it just all hit me at once these days, but I'm on the up now.”

Bottas would have been far from an inadequate replacement for Russell, given that the Finn is a race winner with Mercedes around Baku.

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has revealed Russell was even doubting his ability to drive on Friday morning.

“On Friday, it was touch and go in the morning,” Wolff told Sky F1. “He himself said, 'I'm not sure I can make it'.

“Somehow, he recovered, but then overnight, it got worse again every single day. I think it was a big push for him to even drive.

“And then to perform like this, it's mega.”

Bottas returns to F1 next season with the new Cadillac team, parting another returnee in Sergio Perez.