Claire Williams has admitted she tried to block Ge𒉰orge Russell from mo🥀ving up to Mercedes in the early 2020s - and she doesn’t feel good about it.

Mercedes protege Russell joined F1 with Williams in 2019 afteꦕr winning back-to-back titles in Formula 2 and Formula 3 in the preceding years.

Although Williams was a podium contender in the early years of the V6 hybrid era, a sudden decline in the Grove-based squad’s form coincided with the arrival of Russell, who failed 🧜to s🃏core a point with the team in both 2019 and ‘20.

However, he was still able to outperform the car and show his talent behind the wheel, leading to rumours about Mercedes signing him to replace the underperforming 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Valtteri Bottas.

A starring effort at the 2020 Sakhir GP, where he substituted for 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Lewis Hamilton at the German manufa🅠cturer, only accelerated talks about a possible 🌱promotion.

But it wasn’t until 2022 that he finally received the call-up to partner Hamilton at the German manufacturer, three💯 years after he had made his grand prix debut.

Claire Williams revealed that Russell was keen on stepping up to Mercedes earlier while it was in the midst of its unprecedented title-winning streak in Fꦬ1.

However, having signed a three-year🅰 con🉐tract with the Briton, she didn’t want to lose one of Williams’ most prized assets.

By the time Russell joined Mercedes in 2022, both Claire and Fran🧔k William🧔s had long given up control and ownership of their eponymous squad.

“George wanted to go to Mercedes in that last couple of years and I couldn't let him go and I hated 🧸that,” she sai♏d on F1’s Beyond The Grid podcast. “It makes me upset to think about it. 

“I needed him more than Mercedes and he was in contract. If I let him go,♊ what message would that have sent? What would that have done to my team if I'd have let George go?

“He was one of the greatest things that we had at William𝓡s. When you go into a negotiation with a team like Mercedes and they're not offering you what they should be for your A-star driver, then why would you just let h💖im go? 

“What kind of team principal would I have been if I'd have jus🔯t let George g🍨o because Mercedes said, ‘We want George now’. That's not how it works, is it?

“[George] was clearly upset and it was real♔ly difficult. It was very hard to stand my ground because if someone comes to me and they're upset, and it🍰's because of me because I'm a blocker, it's really hard – but I had to put my team first.

“As much as I would have love𓃲d to have made George's dreams come true, I couldn't at the time, and that was one of the hardest parts of being a team prin🅠cipal for me. 

“And I always said to George:🦄 you will be grateful for this one day because it will build resilience in you, it will build strength.”

Russell had previously admitted in an interview that “three years driving on my own at t𝓀he back of the grid was too long” but there was “no way out” of his Wꦍilliams contract.