Williams Racing driver George Russell is all set to replace 7-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton for the second leg of the Sakhir Grand Prix after the latter tested positive for coronavirus on Tuesday.
The news is a follow up to a chaotic first leg of the Bahrain Grand Prix that saw a horrendous crash and one car ending up the wrong side up after a mid-corner collision.
George Russel will make history by being the third British to ever race for Mercedes after Sir Stirling Moss and Lewis Hamilton. Russell, who is yet to score a single point in Formula One, now finds himself in a great position to score a few points and have a very real shot at winning the race.
This will be an excellent opportunity for Russel to prove what he is capable of when provided with a potent car. Public opinion believes he is an extremely talented driver making the best of the slowest car on the grid. All that is set to dramatically change, as fans will get to see him in the championship-winning car this weekend
If past races are to go by, any real competition will either be from temporary teammate Valtteri Bottas or RedBull Racing’s Max Verstappen. Of those two, Bottas seemed to be struggling quite a lot as the Finnish driver started from 2nd position and finished the race at 8th. Moreover, once you factor in that this weekend’s track layout is new for the whole grid, it is safe to assume that Verstappen’s threat is much higher.
Russell going to Mercedes is not the only driver swap/change for this weekend’s GP, as the Briton will be replaced by Williams reserve driver Jack Aitken this weekend. Following a horrific crash in the opening laps of the first Sakhir GP, Haas driver Romain Grosjean will be replaced by Pietro Fittipaldi until Romain is medically cleared to race again.
