Russell wants multi-year deal with next contract: 'Stability important'

George Russell is in his third season in Formula 1 with Williams. For one race he got to sit in the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and of course he wanted more. The Bahrain race was the first and only time that the Briton managed to score points.

Russell's contract at Williams expires at the end of this year and, as a Mercedes youngster, he is regularly linked with a switch to Mercedes in 2022. "The position I'm in right now, as a free agent for next year, is definitely a good position to be in," Russell told the press conference, among others Motorsport.com.

For they next contract, Russell is at least looking for stability. "I think you can clearly see with people who are moving recently, how difficult it is to jump in and adapt to a new team," he refers to Sebastian Vettel at Aston Martin, for example. "So I think wherever I end up next year, I'd like that for at least a couple of years, because I think it's so important to have that consistency to grow and progress."

With McLaren announcing that Lando Norris has signed on for several years, he is the third driver with a long-term contract, along with Charles Leclerc(Ferrari) and Max Verstappen(Red Bull Racing).

Russell says he is very happy for Norris, who has certainly earned the contract. "He's done a fantastic job lately, and McLaren as a package with Lando are doing extremely well. It's going to be interesting next year. I think they can be a real threat to the top teams and to the championship."