Reigning F1 champion Lewis Hamilton will have a new teammate at Mercedes for the 2022 season. The team confirmed that they’ve signed George Russell as their No. 2 driver for next year. The 23-year-old driver will replace Valtteri Bottas, who decided to sign for Alfa Romeo the day prior.
Russell has been part of F1 since 2019, spending all three years with Williams-Mercedes. He won a total of 16 career points and has one podium finish that he achieved on this year’s Belgian Grand Prix.
Both Mercedes and Russell made the announcement about the move on their respective social media accounts.
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t absolutely buzzing,” said Russell in a statement. “It’s a huge opportunity and one I want to grab with both hands. But I’m under no illusions as to the scale of the challenge; it’s going to be a steep learning curve.”
The next year won’t be the first time George Russell sits behind a Mercedes F1 car in an official race. In the 2020 season, he replaced Lewis Hamilton as Mercedes’ driver for the Sakhir Grand Prix when Hamilton tested positive for COVID-19. Russell managed to get to the No. 2 starting spot in qualifiers and didn’t take long to emerge as the race leader.
Towards the end of the race, the Mercedes mechanic made a mistake and fitted the wrong tires to Russell’s car. The youngster had to take a second pit stop and then suffered a tire puncture that relegated him to No. 9.
Before F1, Russell was impressive in various other racing competitions. He won BRDC Formula 4 Championship in 2014, GP3 Series in 2017, and FIA Formula 2 Championship in 2018.
