After Valtteri Bottas’ move to Alfa Romeo all but confirmed it, the news we’ve been waiting on has finally arrived: George Russell has signed a long-term deal with Mercedes-AMG F1 and will race alongside 7-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton from the 2022 season onwards.

Ever since his impressive drive last year at the Sakhir GP, Russell has been the fan-favorite for the second Mercedes seat. Filling in for a sick Lewis Hamilton, in a car he’d never driven up until that weekend, he was able to qualify just 0.026 seconds behind Valtteri Bottas in P1 and was even on track to win the race until a series of unfortunate mechanical issues saw him finish P9.

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Even this year with Williams, the young Briton has had his best season to date, scoring his first points with the team after a P8 finish in Hungary, getting his first podium after a second-place finish in Belgium, and making multiple appearances in Q3 despite driving what is considered to be the second slowest car on the grid.

On joining Mercedes, Russell said, “It’s a special day for me personally and professionally, but also a day of mixed emotions. I’m excited and humbled to be joining Mercedes next year, which is a huge career step, but it also means I’ll be saying goodbye to my teammates and friends at Williams. It has been an honor working alongside every member of the team, and an honor to represent the Williams name in F1,”

“Looking ahead to next season, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t absolutely buzzing. 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.”

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Regarding his decision to take Russell for 2022, Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff said: “This hasn’t been an easy process or a straightforward decision for us. Valtteri has done a fantastic job over the past five seasons and he has made an essential contribution to our success and to our growth. Together with Lewis, he has built a benchmark partnership between two teammates in the sport, and that has been a valuable weapon in our championship battles and pushed us to achieve unprecedented success.

“We are very happy to confirm that George will have the opportunity to take the next step in his career and join Mercedes,” said Wolff. “He has been a winner in every racing category – and the past three seasons with Williams have given us a taste of what the future could hold for him in F1.

“Now, it is our challenge together to help him continue learning within our environment and alongside Lewis, the greatest F1 driver of all time. I am confident that as their relationship grows, they will form a strong team and deliver for Mercedes on and off the track in the years ahead.”

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While Russell shows much promise, and we’re almost certainly watching history being made seeing how many believe he’s a future champion in the making, the 23-year-old is going to have a lot of work ahead of him competing against the 7-time World Champion of Lewis Hamilton, and we can’t wait to see what happens when they eventually take to the track next year.