George Russell has claimed that his seat with Mercedes was not under threat had Max Verstappen joined the team from Formula 1 rivals Red Bull.
One of the sport’s big talking points during the summer was the speculation that World Champion Verstappen was on the verge of a sensational switch to the Brackley-based squad.
Russell himself made the revelations over the weekend of the Austrian Grand Prix, amid continuing rumour about the Brit’s ongoing contract negotiations with the team.
Naturally, the speculation led to the belief that boss Toto Wolff was faced with a straight choice of either pursuing Verstappen further or committing to Russell.
This was partly down to the fact that Russell’s new team-mate, rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli, seen as a future prospect, would not be ousted by the team so early into his F1 career.
But Russell has contended that it would have been the Italian teenager who would have made way for Verstappen, had the Dutchman committed to the move.
“No, not at all, to be honest,” Russel said when asked whether he felt his drive had been under threat.
“It was more of a question of who my team-mate was going to be.
“I think I’m quite rational to how this sport works, and the team felt like they didn’t need to sign a deal.
“I didn’t really feel I needed to push it so much when it got to a certain point. I believe in myself more than ever.
“I’ve always believed in myself, and my results have always shown that. It’s not just the form of this year, but through my whole career since the age of 10 years old.
“So, yeah, if you back yourself and if you perform, you’ll never have anything to worry about.”
Russell denies leaking Verstappen info amid ‘positive’ Mercedes talks
It was somewhat speculated amid the revelation that it had been a deliberate leak from Russell, with growing evasion of questions from himself and Wolff about his contractual saga.
But Russell flatly denied this, stating that he felt it was widely known that Verstappen and the Austrian had conducted talks about moving to the Silver Arrows.
“Maybe it was a… What’s the word? Like, an unkept secret, but I didn’t realise it wasn’t common knowledge,” he asserted.
Wolff confirmed later that both Russell and Antonelli would remain with the team for 2026, but did not elaborate on any further details.
Russell said there are “positive talks” going on now, but reiterated there is no concrete contract extension in place just yet.
“We’re in positive talks at the moment,” he divulged.
“As I said, nothing was going to happen during the summer break, because from both of our sides there was no reason for it to happen, because we wanted to ultimately enjoy the short time we had off, but things are moving in the right direction.
“So, yeah, hopefully in due course, but as I said before the break, we need to make sure it’s right and there isn’t any time pressure from my side, there’s no time pressure from the team’s side, so it may take longer than ordinarily, but there’s no reason for you guys to read any more into that than the reality.
“It’s just juggling a lot of priorities between contract performance, development of 2026, sponsorship events, and getting back in shape training-wise, and then of course doing the contract. It’s not like the world stops just to sort it.”
Mercedes is said to be the frontrunner in terms of its engine package for the 2026 season, in which F1 enters a new era with a complex set of new technical regulations.
Russell believes that there is a risk factor involved in jumping ship at the point in time, with all teams on the grid taking a leap into the unknown.
“You’ve got to look at what would be beneficial for you, but also what the risks are,” he explained.
“So, you’ve got to play that risk-reward scenario. I am loyal to Mercedes, because we’ve supported one another so much over these years, and as I said, I want to win with Mercedes, but everything has to be right and everything has to be aligned.
“So, whether that means it’s a one-year, whether that means it’s multi-year, that’s sort of what we’re in the process of discussing now and going from there.”
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