Not surprisingly, less than 24 hours after jettisoning Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes signed 23-year-old Williams driver George Russell to partner with seven-time defending Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes beginning in the 2022 season.
The Brit has spent all three years of his Formula 1 career at Williams, making a grand total of 51 starts and up until two weeks ago, his best-ever finish was an eighth place finish at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix – his first-ever points scored in a non-Mercedes car. However, Russell was among those drivers receiving early holiday gifts when he was granted a second place finish after following around the safety car for a couple laps in the rain-soaked 2021 Belgian Grand Prix before the race was permanently suspended.
Aside from that anomaly, Russell also finished ninth last year in a Mercedes at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix while filling in for Hamilton when Hamilton was quarantined after being infected with the Covid-19 virus – although a team pit mistake legitimately cost Russell a higher finish in that race.
Currently, Russell has 13 points in the driver’s championship – nine of which came from the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix “result”.