Mercedes should put George Russell in a race seat "in the medium term", according to former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher.
However, the German said he did not believe rumours that Toto Wolff was seriously considering ousting Valtteri Bottas before the 2021 season is out.
"For that, he would have to drive extremely badly, and he doesn’t," Schumacher told Sky Deutschland. "We’ve seen with Ricciardo at McLaren and Perez at Red Bull that it is very difficult to quickly adapt to a new car.
"But in the medium term, I would put George Russell in a Mercedes," he added, referring to the impressive 23-year-old Williams driver, who is the most prominent Mercedes junior.
"I do think he would do a better job there than Bottas. Because of all the setbacks he’s had, the whole thing is slowly becoming very difficult for Valtteri," Schumacher said.
Another driver whose Formula 1 career is at the crossroads, according to Schumacher, is Sebastian Vettel.
"His task in the coming races is to dominate his teammate," he said, referring to the Aston Martin duo of quadruple world champion Vettel alongside Lance Stroll.
"As a four-time world champion, he has to do that. If he is not clearly better and doesn’t move the team forward, then you have to ask yourself at some point whether all of this still makes sense," Schumacher added.
"But we are not at that point yet. We should give him two or three more races."