George Russell will race for Mercedes next season in an all-British lineup with seven-time planet winner Lewis Hamilton, the System A person group claimed in a broadly-anticipated announcement on Tuesday.
Russell, who is in his third season at Williams, will exchange Finland’s Valtteri Bottas, whose move to Alfa Romeo was built formal on Monday.
The 23-year-old will be Hamilton’s 1st new teammate due to the fact Bottas, now 32, also joined from Williams to just take the position of retired 2016 planet winner Nico Rosberg in 2017.
Russell has by now raced once for Mercedes, a standout effectiveness at very last December’s Sakhir Grand Prix in Bahrain when Hamilton analyzed optimistic for COVID-19 and was not able to get started.
Russell qualified on the front row and led from the get started but concluded ninth immediately after the group built a mess of the pitstop and he then experienced a late puncture immediately after an spectacular fight back by way of the industry that also introduced him the quickest lap.
He scored his 1st points for Williams this season, all over again catching the eye with a sensational qualifying effectiveness in the soaked in Belgium to place his uncompetitive car or truck on the front row.
He took 2nd position in that ‘race’ in Spa that finished immediately after a few of laps driving the basic safety car or truck.
Mercedes group manager Toto Wolff claimed the conclusion to exchange Bottas experienced even so not been an easy process or a easy conclusion.
The Finn was strongly backed by Hamilton, who has experienced a relatively easy time in excess of their yrs collectively and has gained the very last 4 titles, but Russell is managed by Mercedes and has lengthy been observed as the face of the team’s foreseeable future.
Mercedes have gained the very last seven drivers’ and constructors’ championships and are foremost the present-day group standings immediately after 13 races, although Hamilton is a few points driving Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
Hamilton, 36, has a contract for 2022 and 2023.
