Formula 1: George Russell now heir apparent to Valtteri Bottas/Lewis Hamilton?

With Esteban Ocon set to drive for Renault beginning in the 2020 Formula 1 season, is George Russell now the heir apparent to Valtteri Bottas or Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes?

Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport confirmed that Valtteri Bottas is set to return to the team for the fourth consecutive year in the 2020 Formula 1 season. As a result, Esteban Ocon, who was also in the running to become the teammate to five-time champion Lewis Hamilton, signed a two-year contract with Renault.

While it was first thought that Ocon’s deal with Renault meant that he was on loan from Mercedes, this is not the case.

The 22-year-old Frenchman is currently Mercedes’ reserve and test driver, and team principal and CEO Toto Wolff tried to negotiate with Renault managing director Cyril Abiteboul to sign him for the 2019 season on loan from the Brackley-based team.

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The two sides had a handshake deal in place for this to take place, but Abiteboul backed out and signed Daniel Ricciardo, who shocked the Formula 1 world when he announced his departure from Red Bull Racing. He signed a two-year contract with the French marque.

Wolff urged Abiteboul to “restore his gentleman image” by signing Ocon for the 2020 season. Renault did that, but Ocon will not retain any contractual ties to Mercedes after the 2019 season whatsoever.

As a result, is George Russell now the heir apparent to either Bottas or Hamilton at the Silver Arrows?

Russell is a Mercedes junior driver who is in his rookie season in Formula 1 driving for ROKiT Williams Racing after winning the 2017 GP3 Series championship and the 2018 Formula 2 championship.

The last driver who won these championships in consecutive seasons and was then promoted to Formula 1 ended up being promoted to one of the top teams ahead of his second season. Charles Leclerc won these championships in the 2016 and 2017 seasons, and after spending one season driving for Alfa Romeo Sauber, he was promoted to Scuderia Ferrari.

However, even if Russell is the heir apparent to either Bottas or Hamilton, he will not replace either one of them ahead of next season. Both of their current contracts expire at the end of the 2020 season, as Hamilton’s contract is a two-year deal that he signed in July of 2018.

According to Williams deputy team principal Claire Williams, the 21-year-old Briton is under contract with the Grove-based team through the 2021 season. She told Wolff that he is “going nowhere”.

Interesting.

This would put Russell in a position to replace Bottas or Hamilton ahead of the 2022 season at the earliest. They could certainly both still be with Mercedes in the 2021 season, so while it is highly unlikely that Mercedes don’t have some way to get Russell out of his contract with Williams, it may not matter.

Either way, Russell is next in line to drive for the Silver Arrows, and there are really no two ways about it at this point. He has shown great promise in his rookie Formula 1 season, outqualifying teammate Robert Kubica in all 13 of the races that have been contested so far this year and finishing higher than him in 11 of these 13 races.

He has even finished one lap ahead of him on five occasions. He has tremendous upside and has earned the right to be the first in line to drive for the factory Mercedes team whenever Bottas and/or Hamilton leave the team.

Is George Russell now the heir apparent to either Valtteri Bottas or Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes following Esteban Ocon’s impending departure to Renault ahead of the 2020 Formula 1 season? If so, who will he end up replacing, and what season will be his first season driving for the Silver Arrows?