George Russell in talks with Mercedes’ title rivals as Max Verstappen stirs up silly season early - Reports

Mercedes star George Russell could leave the team and join their immediate title rivals next season according to recent reports. Red Bull are keeping tabs on the Silver Arrows star and George Russell could replace Max Verstappen, should he choose to leave the Milton-Keynes team.

Max Verstappen has been unhappy with his situation at Red Bull and could activate his exit clause if the latter do not improve their performance. Should he leave, Mercedes is one of the few options available for the Dutchman, with Toto Wolff being a huge fan of the 4-time F1 champion.

Verstappen's move away from the team could force them to sign a top driver, with Russell being an obvious choice. The British driver has enjoyed a thoroughly impressive start to the 2025 F1 season, putting in a couple of extraordinary performances.

The Race quoted in their article:

"Sources suggest that Russell and Red Bull team principal Christian Horner have had some informal chats over recent weeks, so are aware of each other's situations even if things have not advanced to full-on talks about a race deal."

George is currently below Verstappen in the World Drivers Championship (WDC). The Dutchman sits 3rd in the championship with 87 points, whilst George is currently 4th with 73 points.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff also shared a timeline on George Russell's contract discussions this season. The Austrian mentioned postponing the discussions to the summer break, which would give him the time to observe Max Verstappen's next move as well.

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George Russell "surprised" by Max Verstappen's actions in Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

Max Verstappen was very vocal about the FIA's penalty in Saudi Arabia. However, his rival George Russell had an opposing view on what happened.

The 27-year-old was asked if he was surprised by Max Verstappen's penalty verdict in the opening lap of the Saudi Arabian GP.

“No, not at all,” said the Mercedes star to media including Sportskeeda.

“I was quite surprised he didn’t give the position back straight away, to be honest.”

The Dutchman was handed a 5-second penalty for his opening lap incident with McLaren's Oscar Piastri. The penalty proved to be the difference at the checkered flag as Verstappen lost out to the Papaya driver by only 2.8 seconds.

Meanwhile, George Russell struggled at the Jeddah track as well as he dropped 2 places, finishing T5. Nevertheless, the Briton managed to keep his streak of finishing every race inside the top 5 this season alive.

Would you like to see a potential Russell X Verstappen swap next season?