George Russell should avoid Red Bull at all costs, Mercedes will make him world champion | F1 | Sports

George Russell must resist the temptation to switch to Red Bull if he is not offered a place at Mercedes for the 2022 F1 season. The 23-year-old has impressed at Williams even though he hasn’t scored a point for her in his career.

Russell is fighting for the second Mercedes seat with Valtteri Bottas after Lewis Hamilton signed a new two-year contract with the team.

The youngster entered the Silver Arrows for the Sakhir Grand Prix last year when the world champion was absent due to a positive test for COVID-19.

Russell looked like he might win the race until he was let down by Mercedes at the pit stops.

Since then, he’s only improved his reputation by coming out of Q1 every time this season, despite being on the grid in one of the slowest cars.

In contrast, Bottas struggles to keep up with the pace of Max Verstappen and Hamilton and is also fifth in the drivers’ standings behind Sergio Perez and Lando Norris.

Earlier this week, Red Bull boss Helmut Marko admitted that he was impressed with Russell and that it would be silly not to monitor the Briton.

“Russell is certainly worth considering with the performance he’s now showing at Williams,” said Marko.

“The only thing is, it’s so utopian, because if Mercedes let him go, it would be such a faux pas that I honestly can’t imagine it.”

Russell also didn’t slam the door to join Red Bill.

Russell said on the F1 Nations podcast, “I always try to keep every relationship open. I’m not someone who likes to slam doors.

“If someone invites me to chat, I wouldn’t say no. You never know what will happen in the future. “

However, Russell must go to Mercedes and continue their dominance over Hamilton over the past few years.

Red Bull may have had an impressive year, but it’s clear that Verstappen is their priority and that has been seen in the battles for the second driver on the team over the past few seasons.

Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon and even Sergio Perez this year have struggled to get close.

While this may initially be the case at Mercedes with Hamilton, the seven-time champion is in the twilight of his career and Russell would be the natural successor to take over the team afterwards.

His pace is proven with his qualifying performances and the only question marks surround his racing craft, as the Williams is largely stuck in the back of the field.