Russell has 𝔉been heavily linked with a promotion to Mercedes from Williams, although the reigning champions have yet to announce their decision for next year.

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, Russell is very keen to go up against💝 one of the sport’s greatest drivers should Mercedes give him the o෴pportunity.

“As any driver, they want to go against the best and obviously Lewis is probably the great🥂est of all time,” Russell said. “You want to put yourself against and see how you fare. It would probably be an honour to get that opportunity.

“That’s obviously all hypothetical at the moment. These are the same comme🌳nts as I’ve said three years ago. If I could choose to race against anybody 𝔉as my teammate, Lewis would be the one.”

Hamilton 🍰has rem🎀ained vocal in his support of Mercedes retaining Valtteri Bottas for a sixth season.

Giving his opinion on𒉰 the situation, Hamilton says he will “support whichever way they go”.

“Well I’ve obviously been vocal in the past for my loyalty to Valtteri and worked incredi🤪bly closely with him,” Hamilton added. “I think ou𓃲r working relationship is better than ever.

“Toto’s a great leader and as I said in the past we’ve always stayed connected. Of course, we talk about these things and naturally, we’re part of the same team, we want what is best for the team movꦑing forwards. We want to win more championships so we just have conversations 🐠but at the end of the day, it’s down to him and the board at Mercedes to make that decision.

“I am part of the team so I♛ support whichever way they go naturally. I am j꧂ust trying to put all my energy into the best I can this season.”