The talk of the town has been George Russell for the past 3 days, following Mercedes’ announcement. The young Briton will be spending an entire weekend with the Silver Arrows for the first time at Sakhir Grand Prix, and Charles Leclerc is nothing but excited about it.

The expectations from Russell, in general, have been sky high and the question of how fast he could be in the Mercedes has been running in almost everyone’s mind.

Ferrari driver, and a friend of Russell since his karting days, revealed that he is expecting a podium, at least from the one-off Mercedes driver.

During the Sakhir GP press conference, the interviewer asked Leclerc to speak about Russell’s upcoming highly anticipated weekend.

“For me, a podium at least,” he replied without much hesitation. “But, yeah, I have some hope of a win. I mean it’s very optimistic but I know he’s very good. And yeah, I could bet on a win.”

Russell has been aching for a chance to show his true merit, considering that he has been driving a lackluster Williams until now. Hence, the fact that he will be driving the Mercedes this weekend could well be the dawn of a long-lasting career in F1.

Charles Leclerc billing George Russell for success in Bahrain

The Ferrari driver is quite confident that Russell will show his real speed this weekend at the Sakhir Grand Prix. “I think he’ll show how much of a good driver he is this weekend,” he said.

“Of course, he has shown it before that, but now having the opportunity to be fighting further up with probably the best car out there, it is a great opportunity for him. And I hope that he’ll do well.”

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The way Leclerc is supporting Russell is astonishing. The reason being both these drivers have been racing each other since their karting days. Hence, without much lag, the two have traveled together through each and every racing series and have eventually wound up in Formula 1.

Hence, considering Leclerc’s take, will Russell’s upcoming weekend turn out to be the way the Monegasque predicted? Or will his brief stint with Mercedes produce some twists and turns?