Williams on Russell: "Whether we can keep him depends on offers he has"

"If a driver gets an offer from Mercedes in the current situation, there are very few alternatives," Capito said in an interview with Motorsport-Total.com. Valtteri Bottas' contract expires after next season and if the Finn experiences another season like 2020, it seems highly unlikely that he will be offered another contract extension.

Russell is candidate number one in that case. Esteban Ocon is also in principle transfer free after next season at Alpine, but it's no secret that Russell is higher on the wish list. "George is an exceptional talent, there's no doubt about that. He has been in Mercedes' youth development programme for a very long time and they recognised that very early on."

Even if Mercedes don't come in for Russell, it looks like the young Briton will be leaving after three years at Williams. "Whether you can keep him or not also depends very much on what offers he has. And also how we work with him now and how he sees the development of the car for 2022," Capito said ahead of next season.