Williams CEO Jost Capito is wishing that George Russell gets his chance at Mercedes from 2022.
A decision on who will partner Lewis Hamilton next season was expected for this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix until team boss Toto Wolff recently said it would be pushed back to September.
Even so, the expectation still remains that Russell will be promoted into Valtteri Bottas’ seat, and Capito is absolutely sure he is ready.
“I would wish that George gets the seat because he’s in the position now, in his time of career, where he can handle to be in an absolute top team and fight for the championship,” he said via Crash.net.
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“I would never hold a young driver back if he can have this type of opportunity. So I hope for him, that he gets this opportunity.
“From the team’s side, of course, we would very much love to keep him, so if he goes to Mercedes, he gets the full support from us. If not, he gets the full support from us.
“That’s why we can easily wait for that driver decision whichever way it comes and we’ll be OK.”
Russell has shown glimpses of his potential to become a top driver in F1 during his two and a half years at Williams, having yet to be out-qualified by a teammate and finally scoring his first points with the team in Hungary.
And once he does have a car capable of fighting at the front, Capito thinks the sky is the limit.
“Yes. I absolutely believe that,” he told GPFans on if Russell can become a world champion.
“George shows everything a modern race driver has to have to get to the very top and I’m convinced he will be world champion. I don’t doubt that for a second.”
Asked what quality he thinks proves that Russell can reach the very top, he replied: “If he gets a knock he comes back better. He grows under pressure.
“The bigger the pressure is, the better he becomes. Many crack under pressure, but George is completely different. The more pressure the better he will perform.
“We saw that when he was in the Mercedes last year [at the Sakhir GP]. It was the biggest pressure you could put on any driver and he performed brilliantly – and this is his attitude.”