Williams has a long list of drivers for 2022
The CEO of Williams assured to have an embarrassment of choices to replace George Russell if he leaves for Mercedes in 2022.
2021 marks the last year of George Russell’s contract with Williams. The British driver is the favorite to succeed Valtteri Bottas at Mercedes, whose contract also expires at the end of the season. The team founded by Frank Williams may therefore have to recruit a new driver for next year.
Interviewed during the British Grand Prix about the options available to potentially replace Russell, Williams CEO Jost Capito states that he has many opportunities and can rely on a long list of drivers.
« I think that at the moment, we are not excluding any driver who would be available next year and Nico (Hülkenberg) is available for next year, so we have a rather long list», Capito said.
The German driver, who has not had a full-time seat in F1 since 2019, declared earlier this week that he missed competition and that he was in contact with a few teams.
The CEO of Williams then admitted that more and more drivers are showing interest in the team, thanks in particular to the new financing provided by Dorilton Capital.
« The main thing is that we want to have the best drivers available and interested in driving for Williams and interested in doing the job for Williams. »
« It is certainly not the driver who wants to be world champion next year, for us, he would be in the wrong team.
We need drivers ready to support, recover, lead, and improve the team’s performance. Currently, we can see that drivers’ interest in joining Williams is increasing.
I would say that thanks to the positive measures we have recently taken. I think we are well funded and this is known and we are moving in the right direction, we hope that we will continue in this way, so we are working hard to continue in this direction and this makes Williams an interesting team for a driver in the future.
Despite significant progress made by the British team, neither George Russell nor Nicholas Latifi have managed to score points for Williams in this early part of the season. However, they are getting closer, especially thanks to Russell who has achieved two consecutive Q3 appearances.
