Former F1 driver Martin Brundle believes that George Russell ought to be “fearful” about his future at Mercedes, as workforce principal and CEO Toto Wolff “wouldn’t miss out” on Max Verstappen once more
The Sky Sports activities analyst emphasises that Wolff won’t make the error of letting Verstappen slip away once more, with the Austrian lacking out on the Dutchman in his junior days after signing Lewis Hamilton from McLaren.
With that assertion, Brundle underlines that Russell’s place at Mercedes is just not as safe because it appears, particularly now that Verstappen is more and more linked to a doable departure from Purple Bull.
The Brit has not but signed a contract extension past 2025, though Wolff acknowledged earlier within the season that discussions are ongoing.
Ought to Russell be fearful about Verstappen?
“I feel if Max Verstappen sprung into {the marketplace}, I’d be fairly fearful for George,” Brundle defined at Sky Sports activities F1. “Kimi [Antonelli] is their man for the long run. There are a number of ifs and buts, however George is doing a terrific job as a workforce chief. However Toto missed Max as soon as; I don’t assume that he’ll miss him a second time ought to he get the chance.”
Brundle believes that Wolff – who admitted to creating a mistake by letting Verstappen slip away early in his profession – wouldn’t miss the chance to carry the four-time world champion to his workforce, irrespective of how effectively Russell is presently performing, with Brundle seeing the Brit’s efficiency in Bahrain as ‘one in all his strongest F1 races ever’.
“In an ailing Mercedes, he had different concepts, and he drove round basic braking and electrical points brilliantly to hold on”, assesses Brundle. “Having made a terrific begin, too, this was certainly one in all his best F1 drives. Very well timed too, as he seems to be for a brand new contract with the workforce for 2026 and past, particularly given paddock discuss Max Verstappen being within the market,” concluded the F1 commentator and analyst.
This text was written in collaboration with Nicole Mulder