18/06/2025 09:15
George Russell has questioned why Mercedes would want to alter its driver line-up next season, despite the continual threat of Max Verstappen lurking in the background. Four-time F1 champion Verstappen has been consistently linked with a move to Mercedes since Lewis Hamilton announced early last year he would be leaving the Brackley-based squad at the end of the season and joining Mercedes. Although team principal Toto Wolff opted to promote rising star Kimi Antonelli from Mercedes' junior programme, the fact that the 18-year-old and Russell are out of contract at the end of this season means Verstappen continues to be linked. For his part, Russell feels he can do no more this season to earn a new deal, with his victory in Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix the fourth of his F1 career, adding to the four in his first six races that have kept him on the fringes of the drivers' title right. Russell naturally appreciates why rumours about Verstappen joining persist, but believes he and Antonelli are starting to form a strong alliance that will only benefit Mercedes for the short-, mid- and long term. Adamant he is "not talking with anybody else", speaking to the media, including RacingNews365 , Russell said: "Any teams who have shown interest, I have been quite open to say I intend to stay with Mercedes. That's always been clear. I am loyal to Mercedes. "They gave me this chance to get into Formula 1. There haven't been any hard feelings with any of the talks that have been going around, especially around Max. "Because, like I've said numerous times, why wouldn't teams be interested in Max? If every driver had no contracts for next year, Max would be number one for every single team. And that's understandable. "But ultimately, there are two seats for every race team. I knew if I continued to perform as I'm doing, my position would not be under threat whatsoever. So I feel in a good place. "We're in no rush to do contract negotiations. We want to win together. Especially with Kimi and I being team-mates now. We're getting a result [like in Canada], both junior drivers from Mercedes, we're both doing the job in terms of performance. "Why would you want to change something that's working?" Russell 'pretty relaxed' over F1 future In terms of Sunday's victory in the Canadian Grand Prix, Russell conceded that "it doesn't hurt at all" his chances of a new deal. After securing a stellar pole position on Saturday, beating Verstappen by 0.060s, Mercedes overcame the warm conditions that ordinarily have proven such a problem in the past for its cars to steer Russell to the chequered flag. Extolling his virtues, what he has achieved this season and why Mercedes should not consider outside options for his seat, Russell said: "As I've said many times, I'm not concerned at all about next year. I know I'm going to be on the grid next year. "I feel that I'm driving better than ever. I still feel I've got more in the tank. I feel ready to fight for a world championship, and I think results like this, results like Bahrain this year, when we get half a chance of a good result, we're there to take it. "And I'm pretty relaxed. Just enjoying the moment, enjoying my racing, and just taking it week by week."
