Brundle hopes Mercedes will announce Russell at Silverstone as 2022 driver
F1 News
Will George Russell be announced in Britain as Mercedes' second driver in 2022? Martin Brundle thinks it could just happen. According to the Brit, it is 'the perfect place' for the announcement.
Russell to Mercedes?
Mercedes has settled half of its 2022 and 2023 line-up after confirming Lewis Hamilton for 2022 and 2023. The big question is still who will drive alongside the seven-time world champion. The battle is between current driver Valtteri Bottas and emerging talent George Russell whose three-year contract with Williams expires after 2021.
Brundle says he would not be surprised if Mercedes choose Russell. "Whether it’ll be announced at Silverstone if they’re going to do it, why not? It would be the perfect place," says the former F1 driver at Sky Sports.
Bottas is not the right man
"If you were running Mercedes-Benz, you’d ask is Valtteri Bottas is our man to win the World Championship when Lewis inevitably retires two, three, four years into the future. You’d have to think no." said Brundle.
"I hate to say that, I really admire Valtteri as he is a great driver and does an amazing job against the might of Lewis Hamilton", Brundle explained. Still, he'd rather see Russell in the car next year: "So I think Mercedes have to get a young gun in there that would emerge as their automatic new team leader sooner than later."