Williams boss compares George Russell to Lewis Hamilton and admits Mercedes is worried F1 | Sports

Williams CEO Jost Capito has suggested that George Russell is not too dissimilar to seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and expressed his belief that he might not be able to stop Mercedes from ending the 23-year-old the season to pick up. Russell has established himself as one of F1’s top young talent since debuting in 2019 and has been advised to switch to the Silver Arrows in the near future.

He’s consistently outperformed Nicholas Latifi almost weekly, with the native King’s Lynn not yet losing a single qualification to his Williams teammate.

Russell has landed within a whisker of a scoring position multiple times, which is testament to his ability to handle the machine at his disposal.

Williams has bottomed the Constructors’ Championship for the past three seasons and appears to have the second worst car in terms of overall performance this time around.

Latifi has struggled to put a glove on Russell since the Canadian racer took over from Robert Kubica last year, but Capito has admitted he’s okay with the 25-year-old’s situation.

The Williams boss suggested that it must be like trying to beat Hamilton. That’s the class gap between the two drivers.

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“I think he’s better than his reputation,” Capito told Auto Motor und Sport when asked about Latifi.

“Having George as a team-mate is like having Hamilton as a team-mate. It’s not an easy task. Nicholas does it really well. I’m very happy.”

Russell was recommended by many as a replacement for Hamilton at Mercedes when the 36-year-old finally decides to retire from Formula 1.

His Silver Arrows team-mate Valtteri Bottas also appears to be in a precarious position. Both drivers’ contracts expire at the end of the season.

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Mercedes poached the Finn back in 2017 following the departure of Nico Rosberg from Williams, and it has been suggested that a repeat regarding Russell could be in sight soon.

Although Capito would no doubt like to hold onto his star for as long as possible, he admitted that the pull of the German outfit could just be too strong.

“When Mercedes makes an offer to a driver, it is difficult for someone to keep him,” he added. “It doesn’t matter which driver or which team.”

Despite the looming threat of a Mercedes move for Russell, Capito announced that he has not yet drawn up any contingency plans. He stressed that he is fully focused on the current campaign and helping Williams end the three-year wait for a championship point.

“It’s too early now,” he said. “Several contracts are running out. At some point the stupid season will start, don’t let it start earlier than necessary.

“Right now it would be wrong to focus on alternatives or to ask what a driver will do next year. That is too early in my opinion. We have to focus on the team first.”

It remains to be seen whether Mercedes decides to change the driver line-up before next season or to commit the current pairing for another campaign.

Russell, like Hamilton and Bottas, will be out of contract by the end of the year and will remain a junior driver for Silver Arrows, which means he’s effectively on loan with Williams.

If the former F2 champion leaves the historic British team at the end of the season, he might be inclined to offer a permanent racing seat to test driver Roy Nissany, who has already appeared in a handful of free practice sessions.