Mercedes boss Toto Wolff claims he wouldn’t move to stop Alex Albon from taking the “open space” at Williams for 2022.
On Friday, Red Bull counterpart Christian Horner claimed their rivals had called the Thai driver “four times” to try and persuade him to join Alfa Romeo next season instead of pursuing a seat at Williams.
If that was unsuccessful, Horner added it would be “a shame” if Mercedes then tried to use their influence to block Albon from joining the Grove-based team due to his connection to Red Bull.
“I would never block someone like Alex Albon,” said Wolff in response via Sky Sports. “He’s a fantastic guy, his personality is great.
“I was personally sad to see him go [off the grid]. And if he has a chance to be driving in a Formula 1 car, I think that’s the right thing to do.”
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However, Wolff also admitted he is working with Formula E champion, and Mercedes-backed driver, Nyck de Vries on making the jump to F1 next year.
And in doing so, the Austrian unofficially confirmed what is still to be publicly announced, that George Russell is leaving Williams to join Mercedes.
“I think it’s the ordinary course of business,” he said of trying to get his driver the seat ahead of Albon via The Race.
“Williams has a Mercedes engine, that is clear, and we have Nyck de Vries, a Dutch driver that deserves to be in Formula 1 equally.
“With Nyck I am in two minds. He won us the Formula E world championship most recently but the great thing is that he has two options.
“He has the guaranteed seat in Formula E, which is a really tough championship, and on the other side, maybe a 50/50 chance to be in a Formula 1 car.
“But we need to look at the open spaces at Alfa [Romeo] and at Williams and try to find a solution,” he concluded.