Russell is too tall for Mercedes: "Had to wear smaller shoes"

George Russell will get his chance to score points in his Formula 1 career for the first time this weekend as he takes his place in Lewis Hamilton's car. In any case, the young Briton does not feel any great pressure.

At the press conference in Bahrain, Russell talks about the last few days. "It all happened very quickly and I have had an intense 48 hours." Russell says he got a call from Toto Wolff on Tuesday morning. "He said: We want you to replace Hamilton." And so it happened.

Even though he'll be in the championship car soon, he doesn't feel any extra pressure. Neither from him nor from Mercedes. "There are no expectations. I was brought in at the last minute. I haven't been in the Mercedes simulator for two years and my seat was three years old. I'm just going to enjoy it."

Russell took his first seat in the car today, with a small problem still to be solved. "I only just got into the cockpit. I even had to wear smaller shoes. Not ideal, but not too big a problem."

Driving for Mercedes immediately revived the rumour mill and now Russell is even mentioned as a replacement for Bottas in 2022. "I do not regard this weekend as a qualifying race for 2022. I'm just going to do my job and concentrate on my job at Williams in 2021".