Williams signed George Russell on talent alone rather than Mercedes links

Claire Williams insists her team signed George Russell for his talent, rather than his links with Mercedes. The British driver has been part of the Mercedes junior team since early 2017.

Russell, 20, won the GP3 Series the year he got picked up by Mercedes. He currently leads the Formula 2 championship with just one round remaining. Next season, he will join forces with Williams as they aim to bounce back.

Claire Williams hasn't announced who her second driver will be as just two seats remain open for the 2019 line-up. She explains to Crash why they signed Russell.

“George has obviously come up through the Mercedes young driver programme but that was not a factor in our decision-making,” Williams' deputy team principal said.

Esteban Ocon, Sergey Sirotkin and Robert Kubica are all on the list to fill the final seat in the Williams garage. Lance Stroll is expected to leave in the direction of Force India. Ocon is another driver who forms part of the Mercedes junior set-up.

“We haven’t made that decision yet, we’re taking our time with it. We’re not in any mad rush,” Williams added.