The Austrian replied: “There is the strategy to go with jeunesse [youth], and see how George performs next to clearly the greatest race driver of all time, and whether he can take over the baton one day when Lewis decides to call it a day.”
Russell earned his first points this season during the recent Hungarian Grand Prix, capitalising on a number of crashes to finish in a career-best eighth position.
Mercedes are expected to make a decision on the matter before the Belgian Grand Prix weekend gets underway on August 27.
F1 is currently in the midst of the three-week summer break, with many other teams also figuring out potential driver changes for 2022.