George Russell says he wants to work alongside Robert Kubica in an effort to push Williams as high up the order as possible in 2019.
The Formula 2 champion and the Pole face a tough task in the rebuilding of the British team that finished bottom of the Constructors’ Championship this season with the third-lowest points total in their history.
While undoubtedly the 20-year-old will want to impress after making the jump up to F1, he admits there would be little point in doing anything but forging a strong partnership with Kubica.
“My outright main target is to push Williams to progress back up the field and get them back to where they belong,” he told Sky Sports.
“Neither myself nor Robert are interested in fighting each other for 19th and 20th on the grid, so our primary focus is to work together on the team to push us forward.
“Then when the results start coming in we can start thinking about each other.”
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Russell, a member of Mercedes’ young driver program, was also asked how he’s adapting to life at Williams in time for next year.
“Just spending time with the team,” he said. “I’ve gone from working with 30 people in Formula 2 to 750 at Williams so just getting to know everybody, going round all the different departments and just building myself into this team.”