'A potential world champion' - Nico Rosberg praises George Russell despite Mercedes issues

Formula 1 world champion Nico Rosberg has praised George Russell for his impressive start to life at Mercedes, in spite of the team’s struggles.

Russell made the long-anticipated move to Mercedes this year after three seasons at Williams, where he proved himself to be consistently quick racer, despite being given lacklustre cars to drive.

It was thought that the 24-year-old would finally be able to fully show what he could do at the team that has won the last eight Constructors’ titles, but Mercedes have struggled to adapt to the new F1 regulations in 2022.

As a result, both Russell and teammate Sir Lewis Hamilton are struggling to perform in the W13 car and are way behind their main rivals at Ferrari and Red Bull.

But Rosberg, who won the 2016 title at Mercedes, is still impressed with what the young Brit has done, telling Sky Sports: ‘For George it will be a big disappointment because he was going into the season thinking that he was going to be able to compete for race wins, maybe even a championship, so this is a big setback for him.

‘Nevertheless, he’s still very young and for him there’s still this giant opportunity to beat, with the same car, the best of all time [Hamilton] – it doesn’t matter where they are in the end.

‘And that is so important for George, to be very close to Lewis, to beat him as much possible, because it will really dictate how the rest of his career will go, if Mercedes keep him and things like that.’

Russell is currently fourth in the standings, 37 points off leader Charles Leclerc, but he is the only driver on the grid to have finished in the top five in every race so far this season.

He claimed a very good fourth-place finish in last Sunday’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix and consistently