George Russell does believe he could deliver results at Mercedes if called up alongside Lewis Hamilton.
The Briton was ruled out of contention for a seat in 2020 by team boss Toto Wolff and will instead continue his development at Williams for a year or two more.
However, should last year’s Formula 2 champion get the chance to race against Hamilton, the success of other young drivers stepping up offers Russell hope.
“[Daniil] Kvyat beat [Daniel] Ricciardo in his first year with Red Bull and Charles [Leclerc] is giving Vettel a run for his money in his first year [at Ferrari],” he told RaceFans.
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“I obviously really and truly believe in myself. If I ever were to get the opportunity, it would be stupid to think I could go in there and beat Lewis at the first race; in my opinion, he’s the best driver on the grid, but I feel like the potential is there.
“You always learn with every single race, every single year with the experience,” he added.
“So if the opportunity were to come I feel absolutely confident I could take it with both hands and quickly learn as much as possible and be there ready to really deliver after a couple of races.”
Russell has impressed during his rookie season on the F1 grid, dominating teammate Robert Kubica even if the Pole scored Williams’ only point in Germany.
And the 21-year-old puts his strong form down to the knowledge of knowing he’ll be at the Grove-based outfit in 2020.
“I think what is really great is that I know one way or another, my future is secure, and I can just purely focus on the job at hand,” Russell was quoted by Motorsport Week.
“I know previous drivers and their previous experiences have been contract negotiations during race weekends, just before qualifying, talking about contracts, and what have you.
“In Mercedes, I’ve got a great management company who… their job is to make my life as easy as possible and to give me the chance just to focus on the job. That’s good.”
