Williams' Head of Vehicle Performance, Dave Robson, has said that driver George Russell could eventually become as good as seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.

The 23-year-old Briton has been linked heavily with a switch to Mercedes in the last couple of years, owing to the fact that he's a part of their academy set-up and the fact that Valtteri Bottas has struggled at times, with his contract up at the end of this year.

Indeed, plenty needs to be decided ahead of 2022 with Lewis Hamilton's current deal also up at the end of this campaign and it remains to be seen if the Silver Arrows look to bring in Russell in the near future.

And, if Russell did end up driving for the Mercedes team or, perhaps, for any other of the top-running cars, Robson thinks that in the future he could reach similar levels of performance to reigning champion Hamilton:

“I think there are definitely some similarities there,” Robson said.

“They were obvious from the first time I met George and we ran him in the simulator at Grove. Then we went up and ran him around the airfield in a road car. Again, there was something. There was something there.

“I think the talent is there. I think he is very close to Lewis and has the potential to get there. For sure.”

Of course, it's still so early to call whether Russell can hit the heights that Lewis has, given the records he has broken, but it is clear that there's something about George to suggest he will be challenging for victories and titles if he gets the right equipment.

Whether that is in form of the Mercedes car, though, remains to be seen and all he can do right now is keep performing well in the Williams and showing strong pace on both Saturdays and Sundays.