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Juan Pablo Montoya has suggested George Russell could be "just as
good as" Max Verstappen in the future, with the four-time F1
drivers' champion closely linked to his Mercedes seat. The British
driver is in the midst of agreeing a new contract with the
Brackley-based squad, but the process is taking longer than
anticipated, despite the 27-year-old being one of the stand-out
performers in F1 this season. Part of the delay was caused by
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff's pursuit of Verstappen, who
ultimately decided to stay put at Red Bull for the time being. But
the potential to lure the Dutchman away from the Laurent Mekies-led
team remains, especially with the dawn of a new F1 era on the
horizon. And it is making the eight-time constructors' champions
unwilling to sign Russell to the long-term deal he desires —
although Wolff has previously stated that multi-year deals have
seldom been Mercedes' approach. However, Montoya does not believe
the Silver Arrows "need" Verstappen, given the level of performance
Russell has reached of late. Speaking on the podcast MontoyAS , the
seven-time grand prix winner said: "I don't know what Toto is
thinking, but what George is showing is that they don't need Max
because they've already got someone. "They've got Russell, who
could be just as good as Max in the future. So all this is really
showing is — he's basically saying, 'yes, we need to secure someone
for the future. This is the person.'" Russell's young team-mate
Kimi Antonelli is highly regarded at Mercedes and viewed as the
future of the team, meaning that to poach Verstappen from Red Bull,
he would likely be the driver to make way. But Montoya feels that
Russell, who recently took his fifth grand prix victory in superb
fashion in Singapore, is doing enough to force Wolff's hand. "And
the way he's performing, he's forcing Mercedes' hand to the point
where they'll have to say, 'whatever he wants, we're going to have
to give it to him'," he added. "He's won two races this year with a
car that, in theory, wasn't capable of winning." The latest on the
George Russell-Mercedes contract situation
