Only one driver has finished all F1 competitive sessions in the top five this season, not driving McLaren or Red Bull.
George Russell has so far made a very consistent start until 2025, even if the Saudi Grand Prix was his Mercedes team’s most uncompetitive outing to this year. Even in Japan, where Russell was on the tail of Ferrari’s Charles Leclair for most of the race, he coincided his first place result of the season with the fifth place result.
But that’s not a real surprise in Mercedes cars that appears to lack the peak performance he is put in position to fight for victory. Russell is threatening in qualifying, but this year has only had one front row start so far.
Recognised as a consistent performance, Kimi Antoneri knows that the ropes are what Russell needed this year.
And before that, Russell wasn’t in the shadow of Hamilton, his teammates have been better in the head and head of qualifying, and have adapted him to be a temperamental and uncompetitive car for three years with other metrics.
It all adds to the 27-year-old driver, the most in-demand driver who currently has no contracts in 2026. The only problem is that if the performance release clause is triggered and there is even higher demand, there is another driver that could be out of contract.
Max Verstappen’s future has been a source of speculation for over a year with the volatile Red Bull team, and comments from Helmut Marco ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix only further fostered the plot.
If Verstappen is available, there is no shortage of suitors, but the two main destinations that have been spoken consistently are Aston Martin and Mercedes. The mention of Ferrari came only as a result of Jeddah’s questions.
Taking the former, I feel that space is being created for Verstappen despite the currently signed driver. On the other hand, if you’re in a Mercedes seat, it’s not only difficult to imagine the pairing line up with Russell, but I feel that if the British driver is replaced, it’s unlikely that the British driver will have so many options.
And despite the impressive performances he has provided, it’s not too far to think that Russell can bring himself to the market. James Bowles, principal of the Williams team, may have expressed his opinion that Verstappen is not worthy of Mercedes, but he also acknowledged that the four-time world champions will bring in additional performances.
Unlike Red Bull and Toro Rosso, Mercedes was unable to provide Verstappen with a quick path to Formula 1 in 2014. With the decline in competitiveness and general volatility at Red Bull, if that opportunity is on the table, can he really afford to pass it over again?
It is a very difficult question to answer, and in itself should be considered a great compliment by Russell. The dynamics within Mercedes certainly seem to be positive this year, and whenever a car can win a race in the last three years, Russell is in the mix.
Of the team’s four wins last year, he fought for the victory before reliability issues stopped him with Silverstone. He first crossed the line and was disqualified due to being slightly underweight in Belgium. They won in Austria and Las Vegas.
Russell also showed the stomach of the fight, courtesy of the very popular dropout with Verstappen towards the end of last season. It was a situation that could have led Mercedes to the path of a burning bridge, but it didn’t just make it difficult to draw pairs on each other on the same team.
No further car improvements will arrive this season, but if Mercedes proves the current impression that it has the best power unit in 2026 is correct, it opens up the possibilities for a true title challenge next year. And if it was a repeat of 2014, when Mercedes had not faced a real challenge for three years, Russell and Antonelli could prove to be the perfect combination.
However, McLaren has consistently beaten Mercedes with its own engine and throws a wrench at the piece for the past two years. The technical team under Andrea Stella certainly seems to be able to offer tough opposition. The enormous domination of more than a decade ago appears unlikely, and the smallest profits can prove to be extremely important.
So Russell is now so many in the shop windows. Mainly, he has to leave Mercedes without doubt that he will win the team championship if given a car, and not go after Verstappen. He’s done a good job so far, but when a single weakness is exposed, Verstappen’s appeal is already greater than a very high level.
At the same time, as the 2018 Formula 2 champions discovered last year, the 2018 Formula 2 champion deserves a frontline seat, but sometimes the situation is against you. So it’s stupid not to have the touch of some to gauge interest from elsewhere, especially given the few seats available after the modifications last year.
It all sums up into a strange situation for Russell, who hasn’t done anything bad at all in terms of his performance, and many brows have not risen if it was announced suddenly after a short renegotiation period.
However, as long as Verstappen is potentially still in play, there is likely always a question mark in his seat, regardless of what Russell is doing, and simple handling of the pressures of that scenario could be a key factor in how his future unfolds.