Red Bull is keeping an eye on Mercedes star George Russell, whose contract expires at the end of 2025, according to Christian Horner.
Even before he intriguingly named-dropped the Mercedes man, Christian Horner had already made it plain how he felt about George Russell. Daniel Ricciardo is expected to be dropped from the sister RB team and replaced by Liam Lawson for the remainder of the season, signaling a change in the dynamics of the Red Bull driver rotation.
In the meantime, Sergio Perez, Max Verstappen’s main team colleague, is still under a lot of strain after a wild 2024. It is uncertain if the Mexican will finish the season and even more so, hold onto his spot until 2025.
The Milton Keynes team is no stranger to this situation, having let go of several drivers over the years, including some exceptionally skilled ones. Red Bull has a large pool of young drivers at their disposal, but team principal Horner says the team is willing to look outside of its own stable.
In response to a question from Martin Brundle of Sky Sports F1 during the Singapore Grand Prix, Horner brought up the fact that Russell’s contract with Mercedes expires at the end of 2025.
“We’re not afraid to get out of the pool,” he stated. We would be stupid to overlook the fact that George Russell’s contract expires at the end of the following year. There are other skilled drivers who might also be unemployed.”
Russell is obviously a huge fan of Horner’s, as evidenced by the many times the British driver has been praised. When Hamilton was sidelined by Covid for the Sakir Grand Prix in 2020, Russell, who was then with Williams, took Hamilton’s place and nearly won the race.
At the time, Horner told Sky Sports F1 that “I think a lot of teams would want to snap him up if George was on the open market.” “He’s a fantastic young talent, but Mercedes has a contract with him, and I’m sure they have big plans for him.”
He will be eager to seize the opportunity at this point. I believe he completed his apprenticeship at Williams, and it is clear that he is prepared to move on to the next phase.
“I don’t think that [Russell being on the market] is the case because of his agreement with Mercedes, but it would be foolish not to look at him.”
However, he is in need of that chance right now, so Toto [Wolff] ought to give it a shot. It would be fantastic for British motorsport and Lewis and George would make a formidable combination.
When asked in a 2022 GQ interview who Verstappen’s biggest rival was, he said Hamilton or Charles Leclerc. He used the occasion to disparage Russell once more, saying, “We know that Lewis Hamilton is a seven-time world champion who’s obviously pretty motivated as well, and we know that George Russell is incredibly talented.”
Thus, I believe there is a lot of amazing talent in Formula 1, especially among the younger talent. Particularly, I find the dynamic between Max and Charles to be incredibly fascinating.
Russell might have to look elsewhere for 2026 because young hotshot Kimi Antonelli will be replacing Ferrari-bound Hamilton in 2025 and Mercedes team boss Wolff is keen to eventually snag Verstappen.
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