CLAIRE WILLIAMS says nobody deserves the F1 title more than “gentleman” George Russell.
Following a huge overhaul in the sport’s regulations, Mercedes have hit the ground running.
And 28-year-old Russell has been declared by the bookmakers as the pre-season championship favourite, a position Lando Norris was in at this stage last year.
Claire handed Russell his first F1 drive at British team Williams in 2019 and he raced for them for three seasons before joining Lewis Hamilton at Merc.
Former Williams chief, Claire said: “George has always had a world championship in him,
“It has been a long and arduous road to get to a point where he is fully in contention, but in my mind, nobody would deserve it more.
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“George has worked so hard, and his whole life has provided the building blocks for this moment.
“He hasn’t been one of those drivers where he has been at the right place at the right time. He started with Williams and unfortunately, he joined us at the hardest time for the team.
“But I always said to him: ‘Hopefully this will provide you with some real experience and resilience for the really challenging times to come when you need to dig deep to win races and win world championships.’”
Russell rose through the youth ranks alongside current world champion Lando Norris as well as Alex Albon, with all three of them graduating into F1 in 2019.
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Norris clinched the title by just two points over Max Verstappen in the season finale in Adu Dhabi despite having the fastest car on the grid for most of the season.
Seeing his old pal win the title has only fueled Russell to snatch the crown this year.
Claire added: “He would be such a worthy world champion, but it is a long road to win that title, and he is going to have to get his head down and concentrate.
“But if anyone can do that, George can. He doesn’t do distractions, he is really smart and he knows what he needs to do to win the championship.
“He is absolutely on a par with his peers and if he has the car beneath him, he is ready to deliver.”
Claire was the de facto boss of the team founded by her father, Sir Frank Williams, up until its sale in 2020.
She added: “George was one of my favourite drivers that I had the pleasure to work with, and I mean that genuinely.
“He was such a joy. There are no sides to him. He never thought he was more important than anyone else just because he was the driver.
“The best way to describe George is that he is real gentleman, both on and off the track, and my dad would have agreed and appreciated that.
“He is respectful and well-mannered, and that goes a long way in Formula One and a long way to being successful, too.
“And just imagine. We could have George going up against Lando and Lewis, too – he is looking pretty strong in the Ferrari – for the title, and that would be incredible for British motor sport.”