Mercedes to pay Williams to run Russell

George Russell better than Lando Norris

UPDATE (GMM) George Russell has leapt into pole position to race for Williams in 2019.

Like Esteban Ocon, the 20-year-old Formula 2 championship leader is a leading member of Mercedes' driver development stable.

Brazil's Globo reports that the "only missing detail" in Russell's promotion to formula one is a signature on the page of a Williams contract.

Another piece of the 2019 driver puzzle set to fall into place in the coming days involves Antonio Giovinazzi.

With his Ferrari backing, the Italian is said to have agreed a deal to replace Charles Leclerc at Sauber next year.

"I think you will see about the future of Giovinazzi in the next few weeks," said Ferrari boss Maurizio Arrivabene in Singapore.

His teammate will be Kimi Raikkonen, whose decision to join Sauber after being dropped by Ferrari surprised many in the F1 paddock.

But the Finn's manager Steve Robertson told the C More broadcaster: "Kimi loves driving.

"He could have stopped, but he just loves driving at the top in formula one.

"Personally I knew that he would keep driving. I believed that if he did not stay at Ferrari, he would like to look at another option. And there are not many alternatives," Robertson added.

Raikkonen's manager says the 38-year-old should be proud that, including his former stint until 2009, he has been a Ferrari driver for eight years.

"He has been with F1's iconic team for eight years, which is incredible," he said. "Now he may decide to end his career at the team where he started it."

Robertson said it was Raikkonen himself who kicked off the negotiations with Sauber.

"Kimi met with them first and then handed it to me," he revealed. "They said they were interested, and Kimi said he was interested. It was the same as has been the case throughout his career."

07/31/18 Mercedes are aiming to get their reserve and development driver, George Russell, onto the 2019 grid with Williams, according to The Times.

Russell, currently leading the F2 World Championship by 12 points to Lando Norris with four race weekends remaining, has been a part of the Mercedes junior program since January 2017.

The 20-year-old then made his first major breakthrough by testing for Force India in FP1 ahead of both the Brazilian Grand Prix and Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, also in 2017.

And, after continuing to impress in F2 this season with four victories and a further three podium finishes, Russell is in line to follow in the footsteps of Charles Leclerc who won back-to-back GP3 and F2 titles before joining the Formula 1 grid with Sauber.

But it is Williams that is set to be Russell’s most likely destination, although Mercedes do not dictate the Grove team’s driver line-up as part of their deal to supply engines to them.

The partnership between Mercedes and Williams could be further strengthened by the former also supplying gearboxes for the 2019 campaign.

A vacant seat could appear at Williams, with Lance Stroll rumoured to be joining Force India if his father, Lawrence, completes a takeover in the coming weeks after the team were placed into administration.

“George is doing a great job this year in Formula Two, leading the championship right now in spite of some setbacks, and there’s lots of interest in him for all the right reasons," Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said.

“We don’t have free seats at Mercedes in the foreseeable future but he is one of our young guys, and we will be looking at all options for how he could make the step to F1 for next year."

Russell continues to get a taste of Formula 1 action as he participates in two days of testing at the Hungaroring this week.