George Russell says he knows where he will be racing in Formula 1 next season ahead of an anticipated announcement from Mercedes that he will be Lewis Hamilton’s new team-mate in 2022.
The Williams driver has been heavily linked with a move to Mercedes, his backer since 2017, and in recent days it has become increasingly clear that Russell has been picked ahead of incumbent Valtteri Bottas.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff during the Belgian Grand Prix weekend the team has made its decision and is waiting for the other driver’s future to be settled before making any announcements.
Russell and Bottas said last week at Spa there was no news to share, implying they knew but would not disclose the information, and at the Dutch Grand Prix on Thursday Russell attempted to stick to that line before stating emphatically that he knew his fate.
“I know where I’ll be driving next year,” he said.
Asked when he knew, Russell paused before replying: “Verbally before Spa.
“I’m not going to sit here and lie and not tell the truth.
“The truth is there’s nothing to announce, but I’m aware of the situation of where I’ll be racing next year, and I was informed just prior to Spa.”
Russell spoke at the end of the FIA’s round of Thursday press conferences, after Bottas and Hamilton.
Though there is still no official announcement forthcoming from the team, the comments from each driver only reinforced the widely-held view that soon – likely next week – it will all fall into place.
That will probably not come until Bottas has secured his future, tipped to be with Alfa Romeo. Next week, therefore, makes sense as it would tie in with Alfa Romeo’s home race at Monza.
Meanwhile, Hamilton gave a ringing endorsement of Russell in his own press conference, lavishing praise on him having previously stuck to complimenting the job Bottas has done and supporting his existing team-mate.
Bottas joined Mercedes in 2017 and helped the team move away from a difficult internal atmosphere that had developed while Hamilton was partnered with Nico Rosberg.
One of the risks of Mercedes picking Russell could be that the team returns to a more divisive dynamic with Red Bull driver Max Verstappen even claiming that Russell would make things “very difficult” for Hamilton.
But Hamilton said he expects a relationship with Russell would be good and lavished praise on the 23-year-old, describing him as part of the “future” of F1 and expressing his confidence that Mercedes’ internal harmony would not be disrupted.
Russell simply reiterated comments he has made several times in F1, stating: “I have a huge amount of respect for Lewis and everything he’s achieved and I’ve seen him working incredibly hard with the engineers when I was a junior driver.
“He definitely doesn’t just rely on his immense natural talent, he goes above and beyond to try and find the extra bit.
“I guess for any driver, you want the opportunity to go against the best and learn from the best and I think that would be an incredible opportunity to be there.”
