George Russell To Join Mercedes In 2022

As Valtteri Bottas is set to leave Mercedes by the end of the season to join Alpha Romeo, George Russell has been confirmed to take the space left off.

Mercedes has reached a long term deal with the Briton to be the new Lewis Hamilton's teammate from next season. The decision became imminent when the Finn driver announced he will be leaving the team for Alpha Romeo on Monday. 

Totto Wolff, who is the team boss, described Bottas' spell as a "benchmark partnership" for the seven-time F1 champion, Hamilton for the "fantastic job" that he has done in the "past five seasons" when he replaced former team member and one-time F1 champion, Nico Rosberg. 

"We are very happy to confirm that George [Russell] will ha e the opportunity to take the next step in his career and join Mercedes," the team boss announced. 

The 23-year-old, Russell made his F1 debut in 2019 with William and had his first spell with Mercedes in December when he replaced Hamilton over coronavirus diagnosis.