Williams react to George Russell's signing at Mercedes

George Russell has been confirmed as the replacement for Valtteri Bottas at Mercedes. The young British driver has learnt his trade in the Williams seat and after some impressive performances, he gets the promotional call from Toto Wolff. Williams boss Jost Capito is proud of his driver. 

Russell gets promoted

In recent weeks at Williams, Russell has had an upturn in results. The crowd went wild for Russell at Silverstone as he made it into Q3. He then scored his first points for the team at the Hungarian Grand Prix, before qualifying on the front row for the Belgian Grand Prix. With the race at Spa never really getting underway, the P2 qualifying result turned into his first podium. 

Russell has been part of the Mercedes junior set-up for a number of years. He got a drive at Williams where Mercedes hoped he would be able to showcase and strengthen his talent in preparation for a seat at Mercedes. After spending two full years at the back of the grid with an underperforming car and a third year in the midfield, Russell moves to the front alongside Hamilton. Williams will continue to watch with interest after playing a major role in developing his skills. 

"We will watch his progress with interest and pride, knowing the role Williams has played in developing his considerable skills. We were of course aware of this possibility coming to fruition and therefore have a number of strong driver options," Capito is quoted by F1 journalist Adam Cooper. 

Rumours 

Those strong driver options are interesting. Alex Albon, former teammate of Max Verstappen at Red Bull, is rumoured to be joining the Williams team. Formula E World Champion Nyck de Vries is also on the rumours list.