George Russell will partner Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes from next season, the team have announced.

The 23-year-old Briton replaces Valtteri Bottas, whose move to Alfa Romeo from 2022 was revealed on Monday.

Russell joins Mercedes after three years at Williams in which he underlined his credentials for a seat in a top team.

Russell said he was “absolutely buzzing” at the move.

“I’m under no illusions as to the scale of the challenge; it’s going to be a steep learning curve.”

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said: “George has been a winner in every racing category – and the past three seasons with Williams have given us a taste of what the future could hold for him in F1.”

The move comes with a degree of inevitability about it – Russell has been a Mercedes protege since 2017 and has emerged as one of F1’s brightest new stars since he made his debut in 2019.

• Why Mercedes Had To Sign Russel

He has produced a series of standout performances for a team whose car is one of the slowest on the grid, most notably qualifying a remarkable second in the rain at the Belgian Grand Prix last month.

And Russell underlined his credentials for a seat with the world champions when he stood in for Hamilton at last year’s Sakhir Grand Prix after the seven-time world champion contracted Covid. Russell was on course to win the race until the team made a mistake at a pit stop.

Wolff, who did not reveal the length of Russell’s contract, paid tribute to Bottas’ achievements and contribution over his five years at Mercedes and said: “This hasn’t an easy process or a straightforward decision for us.”

He added that he believed Russell and Hamilton would work well together over the coming years.

“It is our challenge together to help George continue learning within our environment and alongside Lewis, the greatest F1 driver of all time,” Wolff said.

“I am confident that, as their relationship grows, they will form a strong team and deliver for Mercedes on and off the track in the years ahead.”

Russell said he had “mixed emotions” after three seasons at Williams, a spell he had “loved every moment” of.

But he added: “It’s a huge opportunity and one I want to grab with both hands.

“My target must be to reward the trust that Toto, the team, and the board have placed in me by ensuring I play my part in continuing that success and I want to do my new team-mates proud.

“Of course, one of those new team-mates is in my opinion the greatest driver of all time.

“I’ve looked up to Lewis since I was in go-karts and the opportunity to learn from someone who has become a role model both on and off track can only benefit me as a driver, a professional, and a human being.”

Elsewhere in F1, Alpha Tauri announced on Tuesday that they were continuing with Frenchman Pierre Gasly and Japan’s Yuki Tsunoda in 2022.

Manchester United fans are eagerly awaiting the Portuguese icon’s second Old Trafford debut – but they may be left to wait a little longer to see the star’s return

There have been few debuts that have generated more excitement than Cristiano Ronaldo‘s second coming at Manchester United

But Red Devils supporters could be forced to wait a little longer to watch the Portuguese icon make his Old Trafford return after his sensational transfer from Juventus.

Ronaldo has arrived in Manchester following his exploits during the international break and is preparing to return for the club he left as a world superstar for a record £80million fee to Real Madrid 12 years ago.

It has been confirmed that the five-time Ballon d’Or winner will wear his old No 7 shirt for United after Edinson Cavani gave the iconic shirt number up.

And millions of fans worldwide have been expecting Ronaldo to walk out for his second Old Trafford debut in Saturday’s 3pm Premier League fixture against Newscastke.

Ronaldo may not return for the Red Devils until next Tuesday.

After returning to England following international duty with Portugal, Ronaldo has had to isolate due to pandemic rules, giving him only one day to train with his new team-mates ahead of their home game.

The report claims that United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is therefore unlikely to start Ronaldo against Newcastle due to the restricted preparation time.

That means he could wait to make his full second debut for the Champions League group stage clash away to Young Boys in Switzerland next Tuesday.

United fans were already bellowing the name of Ronaldo in their last Premier League victory against Wolve and Solskjaer understands the excitement around the dramatic signing from Juventus.

“He is going to make us a better team,” the Norwegian said. “He’s a special boy, or man now. He was a boy when I played with him.

“Of course, the players are excited, some have played with him in their national team. You see the fans – they are excited. That’s what he does – he is a special player.”

Meanwhile, Ronaldo is also looking forward to his return and has already spoken of his positive relationship with former United teammate Solskjaer.

A United States court has granted a two-week extension of the deadline given to the world football body, FIFA, to respond to Samson Siasia’s suit challenging his coach licence ban and indictment for bribery.

Siasia, who holds dual citizenship in Nigeria and the U.S., filed his suit on August 2, 2021, seeking nullification of both FIFA’s decision and the subsequent review reducing the sanctions.

On August 5, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, issued a summon to FIFA with a 21-day ultimatum to file its answer to the suit.

The 21-day ultimatum, which started counting from August 31 when FIFA was served Mr Siasia’s suit, was due on September 21.

But the court’s records exclusively obtained by this newspaper on Tuesday shows the judge, Alvin Hellerstein, has extended the deadline by two weeks, following an application by FIFA’s lawyers.

Mr Hellerstein rejected Mr Siasia’s objection to FIFA’s request to set a new deadline of October 5.

“The extension is granted. So ordered,” the judge ruled on September 2.

Siasia, a former Super Eagles coach, who had also handled other Nigeria’s national football teams, was convicted by FIFA in 2019 for agreeing to an offer of a coaching job with a match-fixing clause, although the contract failed to sail through negotiations.

The FIFA in its verdict handed down on August 16, 2019, placed a life ban on his coach licence and awarded a monetary fine of 50,000 Swiss Francs against him.

Following his appeal against the decision, a Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) panel, in its decision handed down on June 21, 2021, reduced the lifetime ban on his coach licence to five years, and dismissed the monetary fine.

The CAS panel partially upheld the guilty verdict as it faulted some fundamental aspects of FIFA’s verdict.

It, for instance, described the lifetime ban with the monetary fine of 50,000 Swiss Francs imposed on Siasia by FIFA, as a cruel and unusual punishment.

The punishment was disproportionate to the alleged offence, the panel added.

Still dissatisfied with the CAS panel’s decision, Siasia filed his suit at the U.S. court seeking an annulment of “the lifetime or any ban” on his coach licence.

He said he was not aware of the bribery charge investigated by FIFA until the verdict imposing a life ban on him was published on August 16, 2019, a claim the CAS agreed to in its review of FIFA’s verdict.

It, for instance, described the lifetime ban with the monetary fine of 50,000 Swiss Francs imposed on Siasia by FIFA, as a cruel and unusual punishment.

The punishment was disproportionate to the alleged offence, the panel added.

Still dissatisfied with the CAS panel’s decision, Siasia filed his suit at the U.S. court seeking an annulment of “the lifetime or any ban” on his coach licence.

He said he was not aware of the bribery charge investigated by FIFA until the verdict imposing a life ban on him was published on August 16, 2019, a claim the CAS agreed to in its review of FIFA’s verdict.

In addition to cancelling his conviction and removing the restrictions clamped on his coach licence, Siasia asked the court to order FIFA to make “global public retraction of guilty verdict of accepting bribe” handed down against him.

Disturbed by the reputational and professional injury the FIFA’s verdict has caused him, Siasia also seeks “compensatory and punitive damages, attorneys’ fees and court costs” in respect of each of the four charges he raised against FIFA.

Why FIFA sought extension

FIFA’s legal team had filed a letter motion dated September 1 asking for an extension of the deadline by two weeks to file its answer to the suit.

Christopher Boehning, FIFA’s lawyer who signed the application, cited “several scheduling conflicts that we have in the next few weeks” among the reasons for asking for the extension.

He also anchored the request on “upcoming holidays of Labour Day, Rosh Hashanah, and Yom Kippur”.

According to the defence lawyer, FIFA resorted to filing the request in court after Siasia’s lawyer refused to consent to the extension in a prior conversation with him.

“Plaintiff’s counsel refused, and did not provide a reason as to why he did not consent to our request,” the letter motion read in part.

Siasia’s objection

Siasia had opposed his application with his lawyer, Nitor Egbarin, arguing in a September 1 notice to the court citing various reasons.

“First, the court should deny the motion as it is non-compliant with the court’s individual rule,“ Mr Egbarin wrote in his September 1 reply to FIFA’s request.

He said parties are not permitted to file letter motions and briefs in lieu of formal motions, unless special permission to do so is granted.

He also said his client refused to consent to the extension because the 21 days allowed for “responsive pleadings” were sufficient for FIFA’s legal team to file its response to the suit.

“More significantly, this case was filed on August 5, 2021. Prior to filing the complaint, plaintiff sent the draft complaint to defendant on July 8, 2021, to attempt a pre-litigation resolution of the matter,” he added.

According to him the draft complaint “alleges exactly the same facts and claims in the complaint filed in this case,” but the defendant “ignored the plaintiff”.