George Russell hands Mercedes deadline to decide his future – “Don’t want to fight for 16th anymore”

Williams driver George Russell may have failed to earn a single point in the 2021 season so far, but speculation surrounding his future continues to do the rounds.

Such is the confidence that the young British driver has in Mercedes wanting him at the club, he has asked the Silver Arrows to decide on where he will race in the 2022 season.

Russell famously starred for Mercedes in the 2020 season, deputising for Lewis Hamilton, who was out due to testing positive for coronavirus. He proved to a lot of people at the team that he is more than capable to assume the title of number 2 for Mercedes.

While he said that he is keen on moving to Mercedes next season, he admitted that he does not have the jurisdiction to make such a decision.

“There’s a lot of talk about a promotion to, or ‘a move’, I should say, to Mercedes,” Russell told Autosport. 

“If they don’t believe I deserve it, then they will find me a seat somewhere where I can continue to develop. But I feel like I’m ready to fight for world championships and fight for victories.”

Russell’s struggles this season can be attributed to a far from competitive car offered by Williams. It now appears like he is getting rather sick of languishing at the back of the grid and wants Mercedes to take a call on his future as soon as they can.

“Wherever I find myself next year, I want to be in a car that will give me the chance to win races. Because I didn’t fight my whole career to get to F1 to be fighting for 15th and 16th,” he said.

“I fought my whole career to get here and to win. And that’s what I’m so focused more than ever on doing.

“I think, naturally, we all want something decided either way by the summer break, really. I think it’s in everybody’s best interests.”

Mercedes will have to decide which way it wants to go regarding Russell, as it is not the only team that seems to be interested in signing him.

Recently, Alpine also said that given a chance, they would be more than happy to give Russell a call and convince him to join them. It is likely that they will not be the only team to express interest in the youngster, especially owing to the promise he has shown at such a young age.

Where do you believe Russell should go next season? Let us know in the comments section!

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