01/08/2025 08:45
George Russell has conceded Mercedes' pursuit of Max Verstappen put
his future with the F1 team "at risk", conceding his and its
interests may not have been "aligned" during the period. The
British driver acknowledged how Toto Wolff's designs of prising the
four-time F1 drivers' champion away from Red Bull fostered an
environment that was "not the most assuring" for himself and rookie
team-mate Kimi Antonelli. The Mercedes team principal has now
stated he wants to continue with his current pairing, but that
development only came just prior to Verstappen becoming unable to
activate a break clause in his contract that could have released
him to join the Brackley-based squad. He could have triggered the
clause if the Dutchman had found himself outside the top three in
the drivers' standings by the summer break. However, with Russell,
sitting 28 points adrift in fourth with just the Hungarian Grand
Prix to run before the shutdown, Verstappen is tied into another
season in Milton Keynes. A move in 2027 remains a possibility, but
it ensures that the four-time grand prix winner and Antonelli will
continue with Mercedes next term. And despite claiming he never
"feared" for his immediate Mercedes future , Russell's comments now
expose some of his more unguarded feelings towards the saga. Both
the 27-year-old and his young team-mate are essentially managed by
the team, or larger entity, which produces an intrinsic conflict of
interest, especially during the courtship of another driver. When
asked if it may be necessary to take his career into his own hands,
and away from Mercedes' structure in the future, Russell reflected
on the precarious position he has found himself in. "For my whole
career until last year, the team have supported me so much and
given me such amazing opportunities - and our goals have been
aligned, and what has been in the best interest of the team has
also been in the best interest of me," he told the media, including
RacingNews365 . "Now, of course, these last six months have been a
very unique situation where I don't have a huge power in that sort
of agreement, and maybe the interests were not aligned for some
time. Which has, of course, put me at risk for these last six
months. "Then it was my job to perform and reduce that risk." A
'conflicting' lack of assurance Addressing the question more
head-on, Russell expressed his desire for his career management to
remain the same. "I don't know, to be honest," he added. "I don't
wish for it to come to anything like that." The 2018 F2 champion
also shared he still trusts Wolff and Mercedes, so long as he is
still performing. That has not been an issue for him this season as
one of the stand-out performers in the paddock, enjoying strong
form despite experiencing recent difficulties with the W16.
Nonetheless, he conceded things at Mercedes had been difficult for
himself and Antonelli with a lack of assurance over their futures.
It is a revelation that comes only days after Nico Rosberg opened
up on Wolff's disappearing tactics during contract negotiations ,
something the German described as "horrible" to experience. "I
still trust Toto and I still trust in the team that they will
always support me as long as I am performing, so that's what I need
to focus on," Russell said. "But of course, for both Kimi and I,
these past months have not been the most assuring for our future -
and that's just been a bit conflicting."
