There's growing speculation that George Russell is going to replace Valtteri Bottas at Mercedes sooner or later and Williams boss Jost Capito has done nothing to really dampen that particular fire.

Bottas is having it tough this season with some misfortune and some sub-par performances already really ruling him out of the title fight once again.

Indeed, his struggles, combined with Red Bull's improved performance with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez are making life tough for Mercedes in the Constructors' standings and that has fuelled speculation that Russell will link up with the Silver Arrows - potentially even midway through this campaign.

Certainly, that seems a little unlikely as Toto Wolff has already spoken out against that but the two drivers are out of contract at the end of this campaign and you can certainly see a switch in 2022.

george russell

The situation was put to Williams Team Principal Capito, then, and this is what he had to say:

“At the moment I wouldn’t rule anything out,” said Capito, as quoted by Grandpx.news. “It’s all open.

“We assume that George will be with us until the end of the season, and he would like that too. Everything else is speculation.

“We have a contract with him, which is valid. But you know that anything can be arranged if it is necessary. I have a good relationship with Toto.

“He can call me at any time.”