F1 News: George Russell Shares Emotional Farewell To James Vowles After Mercedes Exit

Russell posted "James, it's George..."

Mercedes F1 driver George Russell has posted an emotional farewell to James Vowles to his social media after Williams announced that the latter is joining as team principal on 20th February. 

Vowles has been with the Mercedes team for a couple of decades. The chief strategist could be heard multiple times over the team radio, and we often heard him saying to Russell over the radio "George, it's James..." during his rookie season with the team. 

Taking to his Instagram stories, Russell bid Vowles farewell writing:

"James, it's George. 

"Congratulations on your new role, thoroughly deserved.

"Thank you for everything you have done for Mercedes and the support you've given me along the journey. See you in Bahrain!"

The 2023 season kicks off at the Bahrain Grand Prix in early March with the pre-season testing the week before, just three days after Vowles starts his new role in Williams. 

Williams also have a new driver line-up heading into the 2023 season after Canadian driver Nicholas Latifi failed to show he had the performance to have his contract extended with the team. The team announced at the Austin Grand Prix that they had offered American driver Logan Sargeant a permanent seat on the team so long as he could get enough points on his super licence by the end of his Formula 2 season, which he luckily did. 

Sargeant will enter his rookie year alongside Thai-British driver Alex Albon who has been with the team since 2022 after losing his seat with Red Bull. 

Vowles has said about his move to Williams:

"I cannot wait to start with Williams Racing. It's an honour to join a team with such an incredibly rich heritage.

"The team is an icon of our sport, one I greatly respect, and I am very much looking forward to the challenge.