Bottas could replace feuding Mercedes driver - Salo

Valtteri Bottas should have his fingers crossed that bitter teammate warring at Mercedes continues in 2016.

That is the view of former F1 driver Mika Salo, who thinks his fellow Finn Bottas would be the beneficiary of a driver shake-up at the title-winning team.

Toto Wolff, who is not only Mercedes’ team boss but also Williams driver Bottas’ manager, has warned that if Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg continue to bicker, he might have to consider moving one of them on.

"I hope that the Mercedes drivers continue their fight, one of them goes and Valtteri can move in," Salo, who drove for teams including Ferrari and Sauber, told the Finnish broadcaster MTV.

"It would be a place where Valtteri will finally be able to win races," he added.

Salo continued: "Valtteri’s problem is that he has been at Williams throughout his career, even though they have been making quite good cars."

Before Bottas debuted the new FW38 for ’filming’ purposes at Barcelona on Friday, Williams published the first photos of the 2016 car on the internet.

The Finnish driver declared: "We need to be able to win races, which is what we are always trying to do."