Valtteri Bottas in 'free fall' with George Russell tipped to take Finn's Mercedes seat

A puncture all-but ended Russell’s chances of winning, although he did manage to battle through the pack to pick up his first three championship points.

Bottas also finished ahead of the Briton, albeit by only three seconds.

In what appeared to be a battle for the second Mercedes seat for the 2022 season, Russell seemingly came out with a lot more positives than Bottas.

And Heidfeld, who finished on the podium 13 times in his F1 career, believes Russell is more than deserving of taking Bottas’ seat.