Carlos Sainz has conveyed his sympathy to George Russell over battling the “noise” of the speculation regarding his future with the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The Brit has enjoyed a typically consistent season, finishing in the points in all but one of the Grands Prix contested so far this season, including victory in Canada.
Russell sits fourth in the Drivers’ Championship, just 18 points behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, the catalyst for the speculation regarding his 2026 whereabouts.
It was Russell himself who sparked existing speculation further when he promulgated Verstappen’s discussions with Mercedes about a 2026 seat.
And now with rumours flying even further, it is not yet known whether Russell will be offered a new deal with the German marque, or whether it will opt for the four times World Champion.
Sainz faced his own problem last year, driving the whole of 2024 knowing that he would be out at Ferrari, with Lewis Hamilton coming in to replace him for 2025, but managed to take two wins on his way to fifth place in the championship.
Speaking to the talkSPORT Driving podcast, Sainz believes his and Russell’s situations create “noise,” but said it is not necessarily a gateway to affecting a driver’s performance.
“As a racing driver, it’s not an ideal situation,” he said. “We all try and hide the fact that it affects you, we try not to be affected.
“I strongly believe that, like I did last year, you can still have a very strong season with all this noise going around your future and around your team, like it can be proved by what George is doing this year and what I did last year.
“But at the same time, it’s not ideal. It’s noise for you. It’s noise for the team. It’s noise for your engineers, for your mechanics.”
The Russell/Verstappen/Mercedes triangle ‘not an ideal situation’
At this point of the season last year, Sainz was already firmly out of the door at Ferrari, with his deal at Williams not yet confirmed.
Russell has previously stated there is no rush to enter negotiations for a new contract, but with time ticking away and with Verstappen lurking in the shadows, Sainz added that the relationship between driver and team could be affected by the swirling speculation, regardless of how well both are performing.
“In an ideal situation, the way you go racing, the way you are getting the results and the way you are being world champion is when all this is quiet,” he said, “and when there’s 100 per cent trust between you and the team, and when there’s 100 per cent commitment between both parties.
“Even though you can still have a very successful season, it’s not the ideal situation and it’s not what any driver wants.”
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