George Russell would be free to leave Williams if he got a “great opportunity” with Mercedes.
The young Briton has quickly established himself as the lead driver at the Grove-based team in their push to recover from two terrible seasons.
However, as a Mercedes junior driver, constantly hanging over his future is the likelihood that when either Lewis Hamilton or Valtteri Bottas leave, Russell will be one of the first options they turn to.
“George has a very clear ambition, he wants to be a Formula 1 world champion, and I firmly believe he will,” deputy team boss Claire Williams told the PA news agency.
“George is such an instrumental part of this team, and I want to give him a car so he doesn’t look elsewhere. He has a long-term contract with us and I would expect to see him in a Williams car until that contract expires.
“But Mercedes is Mercedes, and I never want to stand in the way of giving a driver a great opportunity, if our team is not in a competitive position.”
While of course, he faces competition from Lando Norris and Alex Albon, based on his UK-born status, Russell, who won the 2018 F2 championship, is seen as one of the great prospects for British motorsport going forward.
And Williams revealed what makes him so highly-rated.
“George has the whole package,” she claimed. “He looks like an unassuming, nice guy, but he has a layer of steel within him which he has been taught by his parents.
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“He hasn’t had a silver motor racing spoon in his mouth since he was born, he hasn’t had it easy, and the family haven’t had it easy to get him to this point either. He is fairly similar to Lewis Hamilton in that sense.
“When you don’t have it gifted to you, it makes you hungry, it makes you fight. That brings a certain edge to a driver, but George also understands that it doesn’t just take a natural talent to achieve that.
“He can always learn, always grow and build. He is only 22 and he has a very long career ahead of him in this sport.”