Martin Brundle has cast doubt on George Russell’s future with Mercedes. The Brit is the Silver Arrows team leader this season and has adapted to that role superbly with strong and consistent form across the early rounds of the new campaign.
His current deal expires at the end of 2025 and team principal Toto Wolff has already spoken positively in recent weeks about a renewal. However, Sky Sports F1 favourite Brundle is not so certain that a deal will be struck between the two parties. That is because there is another factor in place. Should Max Verstappen become available later in the year, then Mercedes would surely want to be able to offer the Dutchman a new home.
There are performance clauses in Verstappen’s contract which could allow him to leave earlier than its 2028 expiration date. And paddock rumours suggest some of those become active later this year, presenting a potential opportunity to poach the four-time champion.
And Brundle reference his potential availability as he voiced his worry for Russell’s future with the Silver Arrows. “I think if Max Verstappen sprung into the marketplace I would be quite worried for George, actually, because Kimi [Antonelli] is obviously their man to flip flop for the future,” he said.
“There are a lot of ifs in there. George is doing a great job for them as team leader – but Toto missed Max once, I don’t think he’ll miss him a second time should he get the opportunity.”
Antonelli, 18, was promoted to a Mercedes F1 seat after Lewis Hamilton decided to leave the team for a new chapter of his career with Ferrari. Wolff tried to publicly woo Verstappen but, when it became clear the Dutchman was not leaving last year, the Austrian turned instead to a future star of the sport.
Formula 1 fans can watch every practice, qualifying and race live with Sky’s new Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle in a new deal that saves £192.
As well as Sky Sports access, this includes more than 100 TV channels and free subscriptions to Netflix and Discovery+.
The Italian teenager has enjoyed a strong start to life in the sport and shown why he is so highly regarded by Mercedes and by Wolff in particular. He is not likely to want to allow a future starlet to slip through his fingers and so, if there needs to be room made for Verstappen’s potential arrival, then Russell looks to be the likely casualty.
For now, at least in public, Wolff says he is committed to the Brit. He said: “It is almost an open secret that we have every intention to keep our drivers for the long term. We are not disclosing every discussion that we have with the drivers and that is why this is going in the direction that it should go.
“But there is more to any contract than just giving a driver the fixed guarantee that he is going to be in the car. There are terms to it that you need to discuss for the best interest of the team and the driver, so it is a structured process.”
Wolff is not likely to rush those negotiations and talks may not reach an advanced stage until at least the summer. That is when Verstappen’s break clauses are believed to come into force, creating the possibility of a difficult decision for Mercedes over the future of their driver line-up.
At Reach and across our entities we and our partners use information collected through cookies and other identifiers from your device to improve experience on our site, analyse how it is used and to show personalised advertising. You can opt out of the sale or sharing of your data, at any time clicking the “Do Not Sell or Share my Data” button at the bottom of the webpage. Please note that your preferences are browser specific. Use of our website and any of our services represents your acceptance of the use of cookies and consent to the practices described in our Privacy Notice and Cookie Notice.
