- Valtteri Bottas has announced he is to join Alfa Romeo
- His move clears way for George Russell to complete switch
George Russell’s move to partner Lewis Hamilton next season is expected to be formally confirmed by Mercedes on Tuesday after Valtteri Bottas announced he is to join Alfa Romeo.
The Mercedes team principal, Toto Wolff, had already made it clear that the seat alongside Hamilton was between Russell and the incumbent Bottas and so Bottas’s announcement on Monday confirms the British driver has the place. The 23-year-old from King’s Lynn is in his third season at Williams but is a member of the Mercedes young driver programme and was expected to be given a seat with the team at some point. Russell has been hugely impressive in his opening three seasons in F1, qualified and raced well in a car that has been well off the pace.