It’s official, George Russell will replace Valtteri Bottas alongside Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes on a long term deal. A move that everyone could see coming after the Finn announced his own move to Alfa Romeo at the end of the current season.

Russell’s move will surely see him accelerate in his own Formula 1 career, as the young Brit will be behind the wheel of a much more capable and competitive machine in 2022.

“I’m excited and humbled to be joining Mercedes next year, which is a huge career step, but it also means I’ll be saying goodbye to my teammates and friends at Williams,” said Russell, before adding that “it has been an honour working alongside every member of the team, and an honour to represent the Williams name in F1.”

Russell’s departure from the Williams team left a free seat for the coming season, and in almost no time at all it was claimed by Alex Albon, who will return to racing at the pinnacle of motorsport, having been dropped as Red Bull Racing’s second driver at the end of 2020.

Despite not competing this season, Albon was still busy fulfilling reserve and test driver duties for Red Bull. Having faced the realisation that a seat at AlphaTauri would not be available at the end of the season, the Thai driver pushed hard to find opportunities outside of the Red Bull family, and has now found it at Williams.

Featured image: George Russell