George Russell says taking on de facto ‘team leader’ role at Mercedes F1 would be “the next step in my journey”once Lewis Hamilton leaves for Ferrari.
Russell will drive alongside a rookie teammate next year when Andrea Kimi Antonelli moves to Formula 1, making him the experienced Silver Arrows driver in 2025.
After partnering the most statistically successful driver in the history of the sport for the past three seasons, Russell said he feels “ready in all respects” to be a title challenger in his own right next year.
"This is the next step in my journey," Russell replied when asked if he would take on the number 1 role at Mercedes in 2025.
“I will have been with the team for four years and I will have been part of the Mercedes family for eight or nine years. I feel ready in all respects to fight for the World Championship in 2025.”
“I also feel ready to be listened to a little more and work with the team every race and contribute to the development of the car.”
“Next year we’ll build on what Lewis and I have sown over the past three years.”
After driving for Williams for three years, the Briton said valuable lessons had been learned from his partnership with the seven-time world champion. Antonelli himself will not have had this smoother transition.
“When you’re thrown in at the deep end, you learn faster,” adds Russell to defend this decision by Toto Wolff.
“From my experience, I can say that I learned more in my first year alongside Lewis than in my three years at Williams.”
“All drivers who have won championships in their career are fast. You can put them in a top team in their first year, like Lewis did at McLaren.”
“I’m sure Charles [Leclerc] at Ferrari or Max [Verstappen] at Red Bull would have done a good job even without preparation in a small team.”
“Maybe at the cost of one or two mistakes, but that’s part of the problem. Kimi will learn from that. You either have the speed or you don’t. Kimi has it.”
