‘Polished diamond' Russell will be a "huge asset" for Mercedes - Capito

After three impressive years with Williams, Russell makes the move up to Mercedes for the 2022 season alongside seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton.

Due to Williams lack of competitiveness, points often alluded Russell, but he was able to demonstrate his impressive raw speed by having a 100 per cent qualifying record over his teammates at the Grove outfit in his first two seasons.

In 2021, Russell scored points on four occasions, including a podium finish at the Belgian Grand Prix after sensationally qualifying on the front row in wet conditions.

Capito has been Williams CEO since December 2020, before being appointed team principal in June.

Reflecting on Russell’s time with the team, Capito praised the British driver for being a “great team leader”.

“George is a great team leader and a raw diamond would not be good enough,” Capito said. “He is already a polished diamond. And he is still not at his best, I think he can still get better. But the stage he is now he is a huge asset for every team, and so he was for us.

“And on one hand, we are sad to see him leave but that could be expected, and we supported him to get this chance. And we are very happy for him to get the chance. I think this is the reason why he still performed and focused on Williams because he got the support for the move and everybody was happy with him for the move.

“There were no bad feelings and that helped him and gave him the confidence to fight for Williams and even improve the good relationship he had with the team and the other way round.”

With Russell at Mercedes for 2022, former Red Bull driver Alexander Albon will partner Nicholas Latifi.

The team has yet to announce when it plans to unveil its new 2022 car.