Williams staff ‘didn’t really love’ working with George Russell for one unexpected reason

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Mercedes driver George Russell spent his first three seasons in Formula 1 driving around near the back of the grid for Williams.

After winning the Formula 2 championship in 2018, Mercedes needed to find a seat for George Russell on the grid.

Lewis Hamilton had just won his fifth drivers’ championship and was being ably aided by teammate Valtteri Bottas.

It made sense that Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff didn’t want to disrupt this partnership, but his options were limited.

Williams had two seats to fill in 2019, with Lance Stroll moving on to join Racing Point, and Sergey Sirotkin’s backers deciding to no longer sponsor the car due to the team’s poor performance.

Up stepped Russell from Formula 2 to join Robert Kubica, who returned to F1 eight years after a near-fatal rallying crash.

Kubica later admitted regretting joining Williams, and his British teammate spent three years with the team before finally getting the call-up to replace Bottas in 2022.

Toto Wolff suggested Russell spent too long at Williams, and journalist Julianne Cerasoli has shared some interesting details about his time with the team.

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George Russell faces F1 popularity crisis after rough spell racing with Williams

Cerasoli was asked on the Nailing the Apex Podcast which teams might be interested in Russell if he ever became a free agent, and she explained: “It’s a good question.

“I think a few teams could be interested in him. He’s got a few problems with the fan base. He doesn’t have a very big fan base. I know that.

“So, Autosport, they do a British driver of the year, and he was behind Ollie Bearman. That was at the end of last year.

“So, Ollie didn’t even do well in F2; he was in front of George Russell and also in Formula 1.

“I know at Williams, they didn’t really love him at Williams. They had… just a way to work with the team.

“But I firmly believe that these guys are really young and they are getting more and more mature in front of our eyes, and this is something you can change, you can learn, you can change.

“At Mercedes, I didn’t hear anything particularly bad about him. So, I do think that this is changing.

“So, this first bad impression that he left is changing. I do see an opportunity for him. But it depends on what is going to open up.

“The problem is everybody’s just in this waiting game for 2026, which are the doors that are actually worth knocking on, and we don’t know, the drivers don’t know.

“So everybody’s just waiting and trying to get the deals. If they have a long deal, they try to make sure that they can get out of this deal easily.”

READ MORE: All to know about Williams Racing from team principal to Mercedes ties

George Russell’s ‘emotional’ goodbye from Williams ahead of joining Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes

It was at the beginning of September 2021 that Mercedes announced Russell would be partnering Hamilton the following year, with Bottas heading to Alfa Romeo.

Speaking to Formula 1’s official website, Russell admitted: “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 honour working alongside every member of the team, and an honour to represent the Williams name in F1.

“I have nine more races as a Williams driver, and I want to make sure they are the best nine of my time with the team. Then, and only then, can I turn my attention to 2022.”

Russell spent 59 races driving for Mercedes, but in that time, he only scored 16 points.

He failed to score a point in 2019, and his only three points in 2020 came when he went on loan to Mercedes in Bahrain to replace Hamilton when he was diagnosed with Covid.

The British driver’s final season with the team was more positive, scoring 16 points and standing on the podium at the Belgian Grand Prix.

He qualified second, but the race only lasted one lap before being declared too wet to continue, handing him nine points.

It remains the last time Williams have recorded a podium finish, something Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz will be desperate to change soon.