27/06/2025
NEWS STORY
"It's only normal," says George Russell amidst continuing claims of Mercedes wanting Max Verstappen on board.
Despite Toto Wolff's continued assurances that he is delighted with his current line-up and is seeking to maintain it, the fact is that the Austrian has never made any secret of his regret that he previously let Verstappen slip through his fingers.
While the Dutchman and his team continue to insist that all is well and that he is not looking elsewhere, adding to the speculation is the fact that Mercedes has yet to extend Russell's contract which runs out this year.
Talking to Sky Sports, Russell admits that it is only natural that Mercedes would look at Verstappen.
"If you're going to be back on top you need to make sure you've got the best drivers, the best engineers, the best pit crew, and that's what Mercedes are chasing," said the Montreal winner.
"So, it's only normal that conversations with the likes of Verstappen are ongoing," he added. "But from my side, if I'm performing as I'm doing, what have I got to be concerned about? There are two seats in every Formula One team."
Indeed, there are, and the other seat is occupied by Kimi Antonelli, who Wolff clearly sees as the future for the team.
Nonetheless, Russell insists that Wolff has made clear to him that he is performing as expected.
"I think there's only one driver that you can debate in terms of performance, these are his words, these are not my words, so that's why I have no concern about the future," said the Briton.
"But there's two seats at every team and I guess he needs to think, who are those two drivers going to be for those two seats, and I guess that's what the delay is."
Meanwhile, the Dutchman, when asked about his future, was not quite as forthcoming.
"Do you want me to repeat what I said last year?" he snapped. "It's not really on my mind, just driving well, trying to push the performance, and then we focus on next year."