Russell would be ‘honoured’ to team up with Hamilton for F1 2022

Russell has been heavily linked with a promotion to Mercedes from Williams, although the reigning champions have yet to announce their decision for next year.

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, Russell is very keen to go up against one of the sport’s greatest drivers should Mercedes give him the opportunity.

“As any driver, they want to go against the best and obviously Lewis is probably the greatest of all time,” Russell said. “You want to put yourself against and see how you fare. It would probably be an honour to get that opportunity.

“That’s obviously all hypothetical at the moment. These are the same comments as I’ve said three years ago. If I could choose to race against anybody as my teammate, Lewis would be the one.”

Hamilton has remained vocal in his support of Mercedes retaining Valtteri Bottas for a sixth season.

Giving his opinion on the situation, Hamilton says he will “support whichever way they go”.

“Well I’ve obviously been vocal in the past for my loyalty to Valtteri and worked incredibly closely with him,” Hamilton added. “I think our working relationship is better than ever.

“Toto’s a great leader and as I said in the past we’ve always stayed connected. Of course, we talk about these things and naturally, we’re part of the same team, we want what is best for the team moving forwards. We want to win more championships so we just have conversations but at the end of the day, it’s down to him and the board at Mercedes to make that decision.

“I am part of the team so I support whichever way they go naturally. I am just trying to put all my energy into the best I can this season.”