George Russell Insists His Mercedes Seat ‘Never Felt Under Threat’ From Max Verstappen Speculation

• George Russell says his Mercedes seat “never felt under threat” from Max Verstappen after two years of speculation linking the four time champion to the team
• The comments came after Red Bull confirmed on Thursday that Verstappen has signed a contract extension running until 2030
• Lando Norris also responded, saying he would have welcomed Verstappen as a McLaren team-mate had a move materialised

George Russell says his Mercedes seat “never felt under threat” from Max Verstappen, after the four time world champion ended two years of speculation about his future by signing a contract extension with Red Bull.

Verstappen has been linked with Mercedes from shortly after Lewis Hamilton announced in February 2024 that he was leaving the team to join Ferrari. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff initially appeared to be targeting Verstappen as a team-mate for Russell, before the Dutchman was more recently touted as a possible replacement for the Briton after his team-mate Kimi Antonelli’s form took him to the top of the championship.

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Two Years of Speculation, Ended at Zandvoort

Verstappen’s previous deal had run through 2028, but performance-based exit clauses inside it allowed speculation to spread about a possible departure. He was linked with multiple rival teams over the past 18 months and had openly hinted at retiring from the sport earlier this year, driven by his frustration with the current generation of cars, which he has called “anti-racing” and compared to Mario Kart.

His frustrations went beyond the cars themselves. Verstappen also voiced frustration at Red Bull’s own performances this year, having finished second in the 2025 championship behind Lando Norris but without a race win so far in 2026. The extension is being read as an endorsement of team boss Laurent Mekies, who took over last July after the departure of Christian Horner.

“I am really pleased with the contract extension. We have the best people and I’m excited to keep working together with everyone to get back to the top again,” Verstappen said on Thursday.

“This remains the ultimate goal that all of us have been working towards and will continue to pursue. I want to thank Red Bull, Laurent and everyone at Oracle Red Bull Racing for the trust they put in me.”

“Getting to work with Laurent now for over a year has also been great, I see a clear vision he has for the Team. Everyone in Milton Keynes believes in what we are building and I am looking forward to the next chapter, fighting for more victories and competing for championships as we continue to shape the future of this Team.”

“To make this announcement during the last Grand Prix at Zandvoort is a great moment for me as well. Hopefully we can give the fans a special send-off for the final race.”

Verstappen was signed to Red Bull’s junior programme in 2014 as a teenager and made his grand prix debut for Toro Rosso in 2015 at 17, the youngest driver ever to start a race. He was promoted to the senior team for the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix and won on debut for Red Bull, aged 18, a record that also stands today. He has gone on to win 71 races, third on the sport’s all-time list, and four world championships. His extension closes the door on speculation he might follow his long-time race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, who is set to join McLaren no later than 2028.

Verstappen’s new deal was the third driver contract confirmed in Formula 1 this week, after Williams announced extensions for both Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz. It continues a trend of top teams locking in their line-ups on long-term deals, with Charles Leclerc having extended with Ferrari into the 2030s earlier this year, while Norris and Oscar Piastri are both signed to McLaren to the end of the decade.

The speculation over Verstappen’s future first took hold after Lewis Hamilton left Mercedes for Ferrari at the end of 2024, a move that opened a seat Wolff filled by promoting 18-year-old Antonelli from the team’s junior programme. That decision left Russell as the senior figure in a young Mercedes line-up, and it was against that backdrop that Verstappen’s name kept resurfacing whenever the team’s driver plans were discussed.

“Never Felt Under Threat”

Russell suggested Mercedes’ talks with the Dutchman’s camp over the last couple of years were overblown.

“It’s only really a topic for us when we’re sat in front of you guys in the press and you want to ask these questions and understand what’s going on,” Russell said. “It was always very clear from within Mercedes what the reality was over these past couple of years.”

“Maybe those conversations were slightly more public than the conversations his team were having with the likes of McLaren, or Ferrari, or whoever else it may have been.”

Drivers Talk, Teams Talk

Russell described the speculation as part of the ordinary rhythm of the sport, rather than a sign that his own position at Mercedes was ever actually at risk.

“That’s just the nature of the sport. Drivers talk with different teams, teams talk with different drivers. Everyone has to just see what their cards are,” Russell said.

“But my seat never felt under threat, and I felt 100 per cent security with Toto and the team, and that obviously now continues.”

Antonelli goes into the weekend with a 50-point lead over Hamilton in the drivers’ championship, with Russell third.

Norris Would Welcome Verstappen at McLaren

Reigning world champion Lando Norris also addressed the Verstappen speculation on Thursday. McLaren emerged as a possible destination for the Red Bull driver earlier in the summer, when it was revealed the Woking team had held talks with his camp. The possibility of a switch appeared more plausible too: Verstappen’s race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, has already agreed to join McLaren.

Norris’ status as reigning champion led most observers to assume it would be his team-mate Oscar Piastri who would have made way had the move happened.

“I never heard much more than what you guys did,” Norris said. “I welcome anyone to be my team-mate.”

“Of course, a guy who has won as many world championships as he has, a guy who is as talented as him would always be cool to have as a team-mate one day.”

“But I know Oscar’s my team-mate for still quite a while yet, I know nothing is changing.”

The confirmation of Verstappen’s future draws a line under two years of paddock speculation, with both Mercedes and McLaren now focused on their own driver line-ups as Formula 1 resumes from its summer break at Zandvoort this weekend.

With Verstappen, Sainz and Albon all committing their futures within the space of a week, and Leclerc, Norris and Piastri already tied down long term, the driver market heading into 2027 looks calmer than it has in years. For Russell, that stability is the point. His seat was never really the story, whatever the speculation suggested.

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Written by

Jack Renn

Jack Renn is an editor at F1 Chronicle and a veteran motorsport journalist with 25 years of experience covering Formula 1 and international motorsport. A member of the Association Internationale de la Presse Sportive (AIPS), the global body representing accredited sports journalists, Jack has spent his career reporting from paddocks and press rooms across the F1 calendar. His work spans race analysis, technical insight, and in-depth features, giving readers authoritative coverage grounded in decades of firsthand experience at the highest level of the sport.

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