The 23-year🍸-old replaces Valtteri Bottas as Hamilton’s new teammate having signed a long-term deal to form a mouth-watering all-British line-up at Mercede🦹s. 

Before the start of the 2021 season, Hamilton penned a new two-year contract🍸 extension with Mercedes to commit his future in F1 until at least the end of 2022. 

Russell’s promotion to the Mercedes works team follows a number of💟 impressive displays in an uncompetitive Williams since making his F1 debut in 2019. 

He claimed his first F1 podium in his 50🌟th race at this year’s abandoned Belgian Grand Prix, finishing second to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen after securing Williams’ first front-row start in four years with one of the great qu♊alifying laps in wet conditions. 

Russell, who won back-to-back GP3 and Formula 2 tit🐼les as a Mercedes junior in 2017 and 2018, has long been considered as a potential future world champion by the German marquee. 

His eventual graduation to race-winning machinery has long seemed inevitable and Russell’s prospects were boosted🎀 by an impressive debut for Mercedes at last year’s Sakhir Grand Prix when he stood in for Hamilton after the world champion contracted COVID-19. 

Russell came agonisingly close to a stunning maiden✃ F1 win at the first attempt with Mercedes having outperformed Bottas in the race, only for a botched pit stop to cruelly end his hopes. 

Following his d♈epa𓂃rture from Mercedes at the end of the season, Bottas will join Alfa Romeo on a “multi-year” deal to replace the retiring Kimi Raikkonen. 

Red Bull reserve Alex Albon and Mercedes' Formula E world champion Nyck de Vries are among the candidates to have been lin💯k🍨ed with the vacant Williams seat.