George Russell is not getting himself involved in the “politics stuff” between Mercedes and Williams over his Formula 1 future.
Earlier in the week, deputy team principal, Claire Williams, told Mercedes that they have to keep their hands off Russell for three years as the Brit is firmly in Williams’ long-term plans.
Asked for a response to that stance from Williams, Russell was reluctant to potentially muddy any waters.
“I think right here, right now, I am fully focused on the job, and I will leave the political stuff to Mercedes and Williams to discuss,” Russell said in Hungary via Crash.Net.
“I’m just focused on my job here at Williams. But if I want to be in a championship-winning car, all I need to focus on is doing the job at hand.
“The fact is I’m contracted to Williams, and the fact is that I’m a Mercedes junior driver. Those are the two facts. I don’t really get into the contractual nitty-gritty things.
“From my side, I’m learning so much here at Williams. I am still thoroughly enjoying being an F1 driver and the development process and everything. But the fact is every driver wants to win races and wants the opportunity to win championships.
Mercedes have a decision to make on whether to keep Valtteri Bottas as Lewis Hamilton’s team-mate for a fourth year; Russell is not expecting a call-up for next season.
“The fact is Mercedes keep an eye on everyone. With Valtteri, with Esteban, with myself; we are the Mercedes drivers,” Russell added.
“Personally I’d say very, very unlikely, but it’s… everything is always possible in Formula 1. This sport changes by the day, and you’ve seen this always.
“I wouldn’t really like to say anything more than that really.”
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