Hamilton: Incredibly talented George is the future

It has been suspected/known for a while now that Russell was moving in and Bottas was moving out, at least since someone leaked this information out much earlier in the year. The notion has never gone away, and the perception is that it is only a matter of days (perhaps ahead of Monza next weekend) until the final puzzle pieces fall into place.

The sport's worst kept secret, whose key is held by string-puller Toto Wolff, is that Russell will replace Valtteri Bottas with the World Champions next year and, as a result, it was obviously the hottest topic ahead of this weekend's Dutch Grand Prix.

Hamilton, the 36-year-old seven-time (maybe eight by then) F1 World Champion - who has known the identity of his teammate since he inked his own two-year deal earlier this year - will welcome fellow Briton, 23-year-old Russell to the team.

Consider that when Lewis made his Formula 1 debut, at the 2007 Australian Grand Prix, George was nine and only two years into junior karting! How time flies...

While Hamilton may have wanted Bottas to stay, to maintain harmony and the status quo, but the question of his successor is obviously on the agenda as the likes of Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren, and Renault bolt down their young drivers for the future.

Should the move happen, it will be clear that Mercedes have chosen Russell to take over the baton from Hamilton when the latter retires, and the World Champ sees the positives: “I honestly think it will be good.

"I think George is an incredibly talented driver, clearly. I would say probably the only highlight from last week [at Spa] was his qualifying lap, it was amazing. I think he's humble, I think he's got a great approach, naturally being British I would imagine probably helps, in terms of communication."

Loosely put, history is repeating itself as it did in 2007 when Hamilton stepped up to F1 to partner with double F1 world champion Fernando Alonso at McLaren. Lewis at the time was being touted as a future star of the sport, and so it came to pass a decade, a half later he is the most successful driver of all time.

But that first year was hardly harmonious, quite the opposite in fact as things went toxic fast as the Young Gun rattled a two-time world champion, both losing out on a title that was theirs to win.

Kimi Raikkonen was the big winner that year thanks to the McLaren civil war.

Hamilton continued on the Russell subject: “He's the future. He's one of the members of the future of the sport. He's already shown incredible driving so far, and I'm sure he’s going to continue to grow, so where better to do it than in a great team like this, or whatever team he goes to?”

Russell made a case to become a Mercedes driver during the weekend of last year's Sakhir Grand Prix, in which he replaced COVID-19 struck Hamilton, and nearly won the race!

Since then his performances with back-of-the-field Williams have been stunning, crowned by an incredible lap last Saturday, qualifying second to Max Verstappen and ahead of both Mercedes drivers in atrocious conditions at Spa-Francorchamps.

That delivered a statement that can no longer be ignored by Mercedes. Clearly it is just a matter of time before this all becomes a reality.

Asked if the harmony of his ruthlessly effective team will be disrupted by a new arrival, Hamilton replied: “Naturally… when you start with someone new, it always takes time, even when we have a new engineer or a new mechanic, it takes a moment for them to gel in.

“But George has already been on the circuit with us, he's already done a race with the team, he's already been in the background whilst Valtteri and I have been working in the past. So I think he knows the environment well.

“It's not like I have anything to prove. I’ve raced against some incredible drivers as teammates, in my rookie year alongside Fernando [Alonso], so I don't really feel like I have anything to prove.

“If it does turn out that I've got a new teammate, I'm in a different place in my life. I'm excited to see the youngsters coming through. It's not that I want to lose to a youngster, naturally, but I'm excited to see the progression of the sport, because I am a fan of the sport, at the end of the day.

“You've heard me earlier on in the year talk about Lando [Norris]. It's encouraging to see these youngsters come through. They're fierce, and I see a lot of myself in the younger generation. They're what the sport's going to be relying on moving forward.

“There will be things that we learn from one another. I think it's important that… respect is always there and communication will be at the core of that," Hamilton explained.

In closing, he also praised Bottas: "My focus right now is, me and Valtteri have a job to do. I'm proud to work alongside Valtteri. I think he's a decent human being and I think that's at the core of why I have the respect I think I have for him.

"And on top of that, he's a fierce competitor. He never gives up, keeps pushing, and he's helped me deliver these championships with the team. I couldn't have done it without him," acknowledged Hamilton.

With Russell promoted, Bottas was expected to return to Williams in what would have been a logical swap, however, reports abound that the Finn will move to Alfa Romeo and replace retiring Kimi Raikkonen, but that is all hearsay awaiting confirmation.