There has been plenty of rumours that George Russell will be confirmed as a Mercedes Formula 1 driver this weekend at the British Grand Prix, but according to Russell himself, it’s nothing more than speculation.
Russell is in the running to partner Lewis Hamilton at the reigning championship-winning team after the seven-time champion signed a new two-year deal, confirming his seat until at least 2023.
However the identity of who will sit on the opposite side of the Mercedes garage remains up in the air, with Valtteri Bottas’ under pressure following a disappointing start to his 2021 campaign.
Russell is believed to be favourite for the seat, leading to speculation that an announcement could be made this weekend at Russell’s home race, but he confirmed that won’t happen as nothing has been agreed yet.
“I signed with Mercedes five or six years ago now, that is 100 per cent true, as everybody knows they look after me,” he told the F1 Nation podcast.
“With regards to my drive for next year, nothing has been signed or sealed and nothing will be announced in Silverstone so I can let you know that.”
The Briton is looking forward to racing in front of his home crowd, with an expected 140,000 capacity crowd on Sunday, but denied the extra support gives a driver a performance boost.
“I always think, when people say ‘I’m going to try a bit more’, well, why weren’t you trying a little bit more the previous week? There’s nothing more I think a driver can give purely because it’s a home race, because you’re giving your absolute maximum,” added Russell.
“But I think that additional excitement of your home race does naturally give you a bit more enthusiasm. So maybe that’s where the extra performance comes from.
“The difficult bit, I guess, is there’s a lot of media scrutiny and a lot of activities going on during that week. And just balancing that out, really, because it is the biggest from a marketing perspective, the biggest event of the year for us. But ultimately, we can’t let that have an effect on the racing. So it’s just finding that right balance.”
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