Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has dismissed Christian Horner’s claim that the team could weigh up a move to prise George Russell from Formula 1 rivals Mercedes.
The Austrian squad has encountered a problem with the second seat alongside Max Verstappen ever since Daniel Ricciardo decided to depart the team back in 2018.
Ricciardo’s comeback to the Red Bull stable last term was honed around assessing whether he could rediscover the level desired to return to the seat that he vacated.
But the Australian’s unspectacular results this season have prompted RB to announce last week that Liam Lawson will be taking his spot over the remaining six races.
Ricciardo’s failure to prove that he merited a promotion has removed Red Bull’s likeliest option in case it opted to conduct a driver swap amid Sergio Perez’s struggles.
However, Horner emphasised that Red Bull has been prepared to search outside its own driver development programme as he namechecked Mercedes driver Russell.
“We just want to take time to consider what those options look like for the future – and we’re not afraid to go out of the pool,” Horner told Sky Sports F1.
“George Russell is out of contract at the end of the next year. It would be foolish not to take that into consideration.
“There are other drivers – talented drivers – that could well be out of contract as well.”
Marko dismisses Red Bull interest in Russell
Russell’s services could become available in the scenario where Mercedes boss Toto Wolff succeeds in his ultimate aim to attract Verstappen to the German marque.
But while Marko has praised Russell’s record up against seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton, the Austrian has implied that the Briton won’t be on Red Bull’s radar.
“George Russell is on a par with Hamilton in qualifying, if not faster,” Marko told Motorsport.com’s Latin-American site.
“But George Russell is linked to Mercedes-Benz and now, I think, we are focusing on our juniors.”
Horner’s comments could ramp up the pressure on Mercedes
Nico Rosberg, who clinched the 2016 F1 title with Mercedes, believes Horner’s comments will ramp up the pressure on Wolff to ensure Russell is tied down long-term.
“It’s politics and strategy, because he wants to unsettle Toto,” Rosberg expressed on Sky Sports F1.
“And if Toto suddenly hears Horner talking about Russell and Russell doesn’t have a contract, Toto might be thinking: ‘Oh, damn, should I be trying to get an option on George or what?’
“And it’s unsettling, so it’s always part of the game.
“That was a bit of a knife thrown towards Toto there, I felt, because it obviously puts the pressure on Toto to make a decision.
“George doesn’t have a contract [for 2026] and so Christian could be really naughty and just try and really to snatch him away from there and try and lock him in through contact already now.
“I don’t know if George would even be interested, but a comment like that does add the pressure for Toto.”
READ MORE: Toto Wolff: Christian Horner trying to ‘stir s**t up’ with Red Bull F1 interest in George Russell
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