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Well , I do believe he will not be Bottas but he will not challenge Lewis in his first year with Mercedes team. Why ? because no matter how fast he is , he needs to learn a lot of new and important factors that will make him even a greater driver. Also rumors for next years says that Mercedes might not have the front car but then again , we hear this rumors for years now and they still dominate. Overall, Russel will have it's own thing but only after his first year with Mercedes.
Well Mercedes even went as far as asking Bottas to let Hamilton pass in this race.
They even knew he can't challenge him nor go up in the table to reach the top contenders in time before the season is over.
So he might as well just be a moving pylon for the rest on the circuit.
BTW, for those who are no familiar on what the sprint races are here is very good explanation and points out why they introduced it this season.
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-italian-gp-sprint-race-what-time-is-it-how-to-watch-it-more/6664551/This will be the second one of these type of faster paced races, the first being at Sliverstone.
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/british-gp-sprint-qualifying-report/6632306/well, Do you think he will be able to challenge Hamilton Lewis in the following years? I don't think so, man. Lewis is like a unicorn to Mercedes all these years and he always has got the love from them, let alone the more benefits he gets. He was always the first choice over Bottas, he will be the first choice over Russell. I don't see that changing in the coming years as well. If even things are to change, it will take some time.