Williams not giving up on Russell but does another move hint at Mercedes switch?

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Williams would meet one of George Russell's main contract goals as they hope to retain him for 2022 and beyond.

The Briton is a free agent at the end of this season and has been widely tipped to replace Valtteri Bottas at Mercedes following his impressive performance alongside the Finn at last year's Sakhir Grand Prix.

However, recently, Russell revealed that a key demand of any new contract he signs would be that it lasts more multiple years, giving him some job security so to speak.

“Of course," Williams CEO Jost Capito replied when asked if he would offer that to the Briton in Monaco.

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"He is doing a great job, he is a fantastic driver, we’ve created a really good relationship and I think he would fit really well with Williams for our future as well and I think if he believes in our future there might be a chance to keep him."

Still, Capito knows the prospect of Mercedes knocking on Russell's door is also inevitable eventually.

“I think that you know George is a Mercedes driver for many years so I don’t think they will let him go,” he added.

“We will see. We’ve got time to talk about drivers. We are not in a need now to discuss that.”

One sign that a driver might be about to move to a top team is when they relocate to Monaco, something that gave away Daniel Ricciardo's switch to Red Bull in 2014.

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And Russell has confirmed he is looking at doing just that in the coming months.

“I’ll probably postpone until later in the season just while the Covid cases and logistical issues are still around," he said of house searching in the Principality.

“It just makes it a bit difficult and I just want to focus on the racing. Here and now is a very important couple of months for a lot of drivers when contract talks are coming up for 2022.”

 

         

 

 

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