Claire Williams says George Russell’s talent alone, and not his links to Merce♐des, was key to her Formula 1 team signing him for 2019.

Russell, who is on the verge of being crowned this year’s Formula 2 champion, was confirmed as the first driver to be n🗹amed in Williams’ driver line-up for next season earlier this month.

The Briton has received backing from reigning world champions Mercedes since the start of hဣis GP3 title-winning c♊ampaign in 2017, though Williams insisted this was not a factor in his graduation to F1.

“G﷽eorge has obviously come up through the Mercedes young driver programme but that was not a factor in our decision-making,” Williams' deputy team principal said.

“We purely saw a young talent coming up through the junior championships, as I think we all have.☂ We’ve all recognised the talent that George has, and are probably all pretty excited about the talent that he has coming into this sport.

“So no, the Mercedes relationship wasn’t a factor. George has a multi-year arrangement with us moving forward and he will be a Williams driver during that period and will focus on beinꦦg a Williams driver.

“There were no factors around financial considerations with Mercedes on making that decision. It was purely a decision made on the talent that Geoꦺrge has.”

Williams wants 2019 F1 line-up sorted by end of season

Fellow Mercedes junior Esteban Ocon, Sergey Sirotkin and reserve driver Robert Kubica are understood to be on Williams’ ꦇshortlist for the sole-remaining seat at the team, following Lance Stroll’s expected departure to Force India.

Williams hopes a decision can be made before the end of the current campaign, though she said the Grove🙈-based squad is not in “any mad rush” to complete its line-up.

“We haven’t made that decision yet, we’re taking our time with it. We’re not in a♏ny mad rush,” Williams added.

“We have a few drivers on the list; cl☂early I wouldn’t confirm who they are. But we are excited about that decision too, we have some exciting prospects that we are evaluating now.

“We’ve got a number of considerations to factor into that decision and we’ll make an announc𒆙ement in due course; I’m hoping by the end of the season.”

ꦰWilliams revealed the team has a “good budget” heading into 2019 despite a dif𓂃ficult season and stressed talent will be the main consideration when making the final call on its second driver.

“Independent teams in this sport 🐲haven’t had an easy ride over the past few years, the sponsorship landscape is pretty tough out there,” she explained.

“Th🐠e way that the prize fund distribution is at the moment in Formula 1 doesn’t make it easy, and not least coming tenth in the championship this year puts the squeeze on things a little bit, but we’re managing🅘 our finances pretty well.

“There are a lot of considerations when it comes to choosing the driver for the second🐟 seat – but predominantly ꧅the main one has to be on talent.”

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