'I couldn't let him go to Mercedes and I hated that' – Claire Williams on why she stopped George Russell signing for the Silver Arrows earlier

Former Williams Deputy Team Principal Claire Williams has opened up on the dilemma she faced in opting to retain George Russell for three seasons at Williams, effectively blocking his path to leaving for the front-running Mercedes squad.

Russell stepped up to Formula 1 in 2019 as the reigning F2 champion, alongside Alex Albon and Lando Norris. But while Albon would go on to be promoted to Red Bull after 12 races as Norris settled into life at the upper midfield McLaren team, Russell wouldn’t score points for Williams in either his first or second seasons at the team.

BEYOND THE GRID: Claire Williams on life at her family’s F1 team and what she thinks of their recent charge up the order

But with Mercedes keen to get Russell into a seat alongside Lewis Hamilton – who Russell beat to P2 on the grid in a sensational wet weather Qualifying performance for Williams at the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix – Williams revealed that she was forced to stand her ground in order to keep the ‘A-star driver’ at her family’s team.

“George wanted to go to Mercedes in that last couple of years and I couldn't let him go and I hated that,” said Williams, speaking on F1’s Beyond The Grid podcast recently. “It makes me upset to think about it. I needed him, I felt, 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?

Russell delivered a podium for Williams at Spa 2021

Russell en route to his sensational P2 in Spa Qualifying in 2021

The Briton was forced to bide his time over three seasons at Williams

1 / 3

Russell delivered a podium for Williams at Spa 2021

“He was one of the greatest things that we had at Williams. 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?

“[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.

“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.”

The Williams team, started in 1977 by Claire Williams’ father Sir Frank Williams, would be sold to Dorilton Capital in 2020, the family’s involvement in the squad ending soon after.

This feature is currently not available because you need to provide consent to functional cookies. Please update your

But with Claire Williams now familiar to new Formula 1 fans as one of the expert interviewees on Netflix’s Drive to Survive show, she was asked how Russell – who eventually joined Mercedes for the 2022 season – compared to some of the other stars who had raced for Williams in her time as Deputy Team Principal.

“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 kind 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.

“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.

“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.”