Williams hope Russell can emulate Leclerc

Williams technical chief Paddy Lowe hopes George Russell can emulate the rookie-campaign successes of Charles Leclerc in 2019. Mercedes junior driver Russell will enter Formula 1 on the same wave of title-winning success in junior categories that the Monegasque did in 2018.

As Leclerc did in 2018, Russell will debut with GP3 and Formula 2 titles won in consecutive years under his belt.

Leclerc secured a string of superb results for a resurgent Sauber and will drive for Ferrari next year.

Williams will start the 2019 season from a similar level that Sauber did 2018, giving Lowe confidence that Russell can be a lightning rod for success.

"We have a different driver combination for next year which is actually incredibly exciting," Lowe told RACER.

"George is one of the best prospective talents I think for Formula 1 that's around at the moment.

"We've seen Charles this year come through from winning Formula 2, and I'm hoping we'll see a similar star class capability coming from George, but we should be patient around that.

"What I have seen over the years is different drivers take a different amount of time to get to grips with Formula 1.

"Some are slower and some are quicker. It doesn't actually indicate where they will arrive once they settle down.

"So we're not going into next season with any particular expectations for George.

"[But] in the long term we think he's going to be one of the leading drivers of the sport."

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