Hamilton: Russell has “rightly earned” his spot at Mercedes for F1 2022

After months of speculation, Mercedes finally announced that Russell will be Valtteri Bottas’ replacement.

The news was sparked by Alfa Romeo’s announcement on Monday that Bottas will spear the team’s driver line-up for 2022 and beyond.

Hamilton has consistently praised Bottas during their time as teammates, labelling him as his ‘best teammate ever’.

Following Russell’s announcement, Hamilton took to social media to welcome his new teammate. 

“I want to take a moment to welcome [Russell] to the team,” he wrote. “I remember meeting him when he was young, dreaming of one day being a Formula 1 driver. I’d only just reached my own dream of becoming an F1 driver, so I know what this day means and how it will feel for him.

“He is a great example to all the kids out there that dreams do come true when you chase them wholeheartedly.”

Despite having fractious relationships with some of his former teammates in the past - Nico Rosberg and Fernando Alonso - Hamilton is confident of maintaining a good relationship with Russell.

He said ahead of the Dutch GP: “I think George is an incredibly talented driver, clearly. I’d say probably the only highlight from last week was his qualifying lap, it was amazing. I think he’s humble, I think he’s got a great approach, naturally being British I imagine probably helps in terms of communication helps. 

“At the moment naturally I have to be super-supportive of the teammate I have right now so that’s why I’m always supportive of Valtteri because we have a job to do right now and neither of us can win the team championship alone. We have to do it collectively. 

“I think it would be… [Russell’s] the future of the sport, I think he’s already shown incredible driving so far and I’m sure he’s going to continue to grow, so where better to do it than a great team like this… or whatever team he goes to.”