Claire Williams has opened up about one of the toughest decisions she ever had to make as Deputy F1 Team Principal of Williams: holding back George Russell from an early move to Mercedes.
Speaking candidly about the years Russell spent waiting in the wings while proving his worth at the back of the field, she admitted to F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast, “George wanted to go to Mercedes in that last couple of years, and I couldn’t let him go, and I hated that.
“It makes me upset to think about it. I needed him more than Mercedes, and he was in contract. If I let him go, what message would that have sent? What would that have done to my team if I’d have let George go?”
Williams also confessed Mercedes’ initial offers didn’t match up to Russell’s exceptional talent. “He was one of the greatest things that we had at Williams,” she said.
“When you go into a negotiation with a team like Mercedes and they’re not offering you what they should be for your A-star driver, then why would you just let him go?
“What kind of Team Principal would I have been if I’d have just let George go because Mercedes said, ‘we want George now’. That’s not how it works, is it?”
Williams reflects on early F1 struggles with Russell
Russell had been signed as part of Mercedes’ junior programme but spent three seasons with Williams, including a breakthrough F1 podium finish in the chaotic 2021 Belgian GP. It was a wait that tested both driver and team.
“[George] was clearly upset, and it was really difficult. It was very hard to stand my ground because if someone comes to me and they’re upset, and it’s because of me because I’m a blocker, it’s really hard – but I had to put my team first,” Williams said.
“As much as I would have loved to have made George’s dreams come true, I couldn’t at the time, and that was one of the hardest parts of being a Team Principal for me. And I always said to George: you will be grateful for this one day because it will build resilience in you, it will build strength.”
Williams sees a reformed George Russell
The Russell she remembers is different from the one now on the grid in a Mercedes seat. Watching him evolve has only reinforced her belief in his potential. “I was so lucky that I had Felipe [Massa], I had Valtteri [Bottas], I had all these brilliant drivers. I’d put them in when I had them at Williams, all kinds of roughly the same space. But I think George had the greatest level of potential to go on and be, I think, a World Champion. And I see it.”
She continued, “I’ve watched the start of this season. George is on a different level. And this is what I think you see with drivers and what you’ve seen with Max [Verstappen] over the past two or three years, they tip into that zone of just absolute superstardom, and George is there now.”
And then, with a touch of awe, she added: “I saw a video of George in the gym the other day. I mean, he looks like the Terminator. That’s where you’re stepping up a gear.”
