Williams has reconfirmed George Russell as part of its driver line-up for the 2021 Formula 1 season following “confusion” over his future at the team.
Russell and team-mate Nicholas Latifi were announced as Williams’ driver pairing for next year back in July, but this was prior to the team’s takeover by Dorilton Capital.
In recent weeks Racing Point outcast Sergio Perez became linked with Russell’s seat, with his major financial backing making him a viable candidate.
Russell believed the rumours were being “fed by the Perez camp” in a bid to try and land him a drive with a front-running team.
Although the Briton had “no concerns” over his future, Williams’ acting team principal Simon Roberts refused to confirm the team’s line-up would remain unchanged.
But ahead of this weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Roberts revealed Russell and Latifi would be Williams drivers in 2021.
“I probably caused a bit of confusion last week, I’m sorry about that,” Roberts said, as quoted by Motorsport.com.
“We didn’t really want to comment on the driver position. But as George said, Claire [Williams] made the announcement earlier this year, nothing has changed.
“This is our driver line-up for this year and next year. We’re very happy with them, and we look forward to working with them in a continued way.”
Mercedes junior Russell said he’d remained “confident” there would be no change to his Williams future even with all the ongoing speculation.
“It’s never nice to hear any speculation that your job is potentially up for grabs,” Russell said.
“But nevertheless, I was confident in what I could perform on-track and ultimately I had to do the talking on track. As Simon said, I was confident nothing would change moving into 2021, even with all the speculation going around.
“Like I said, I think a lot of the speculation was fed via other teams surrounding drivers to create these issues over the last couple of weeks.”
Perez is still searching for a seat on next year’s grid, with Red Bull his only realistic option if it decides to drop Alexander Albon.
While Haas hasn’t yet confirmed its line-up for next year, it is expected to prioritise youth over experience, with F2 drivers Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin tipped to join the American outfit.
