“As long as Hamilton is driving at Mercedes; he’ll just stay at Williams”– Former F1 driver on George Russell

“As long as Hamilton is driving at Mercedes; he’ll just stay at Williams”– Giedo van der Garde believes George Russell might not join Mercedes soon.

George Russell, since this summer, has been reported to take over Valtteri Bottas in Mercedes from 2022, though Mercedes is yet to put any weight on these reports.

Former F1 driver Giedo van der Garde believes the opposite of the reports; he claims until Lewis Hamilton is in Mercedes, Russell will remain in Williams, which means no Russell for Mercedes in 2022, as Hamilton recently extended his contract to 2023.

He told Ziggo Sport: “I’m not convinced. As long as Hamilton is driving at Mercedes, he’s not going to come there. He’ll just stay at Williams.”

This is one of the minor opinions regarding the Russell-Bottas saga, as the former has given already three years in Williams and would be looking for a move upwards. Moreover, even Mercedes invested intensely in him, propelling them to reap the benefits now.

It’s complicated

But actually, things are complicated too; Bottas so far has remained an ideal partner to Hamilton, preventing any conflicts the latter used to share with his former teammate Nico Rosberg.

Something like this? pic.twitter.com/UZXvkRRcd5

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) July 21, 2021

Thus, until the time Bottas remains in Mercedes, the two will continue to have the same dimension and hierarchy in the team. But it is unknown what role Russell will play.

Unlike, Bottas, Russell is the future of Mercedes, and Hamilton is a dying knight, so the Brackley based team will have to transition a power shift.

But how will it go for Hamilton’s competitive attitude is still unknown; maybe at least for a season Russell can play a deputy role, but it’s not sustainable, seeing earlier with Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc in Ferrari.

It isn’t very easy, as Rosberg in his recent interview said.

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

Read More