George Russell has now admitted that he ‘would not shy’ away from quitting Mercedes for one rival Formula 1 team if it improved his chances of becoming a world champion.
The 26-year-old has been in Brackley since the 2022 season after replacing Valtteri Bottas. It has not been as successful of a switch as Russell would have wanted when he signed with Mercedes, however. He joined the Silver Arrows right as F1’s dominant team lost their mojo.
From 2014 to 2021, Mercedes sealed eight constructors’ titles and seven drivers’ titles with Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. But the Brackley natives’ radical zero-pod philosophy saw them fail to adapt to F1 re-introducing ground effect cars in 2022 as Red Bull rose to the top.
George Russell ‘would not shy’ from joining Max Verstappen at Red Bull to win an F1 title
Hamilton endured the first winless season of his Formula 1 career in 2022, having made the top step of the podium at least once a term since 2007. Russell has also secured Mercedes’ sole win since the 2021 Saudi Arabian GP with his victory at the 2022 Sao Paulo GP in Brazil.
The 2023 campaign further marked the first time that Mercedes failed to win a race during any season since 2011. Yet team principal Toto Wolff is still striving to sign Max Verstappen to replace Hamilton at Mercedes in 2025. The 39-year-old signed with Ferrari this February.
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Russell would welcome Verstappen into the Mercedes garage if Wolff is able to convince the Red Bull driver to join. He will not shy from fighting the 26-year-old in equal machinery, even if that meant moving to Milton Keynes. Russell would merrily go toe-to-toe with Verstappen.
Russell told the Daily Mail: “I wouldn’t shy away from jumping alongside Max. Nor would I shy away from him jumping in with us.
“I had the biggest challenge of joining Mercedes against the greatest driver of all time statistically, in qualifying and in the race. I performed against him and that’s all I can do.”
The Briton continued: “I am a loyal guy and Mercedes have given me the opportunity but I want to be a world champion. That’s not us at the moment. But a year ago McLaren were the slowest team and now they are the quickest.”
Max Verstappen is closing in on Lewis Hamilton as Formula 1’s record-setter
Hamilton ranks head and shoulders above every Formula 1 driver for Grand Prix wins (103), podiums (197) and pole positions (104). Only Michael Schumacher – who stands second for wins (91), podiums (155) and poles (68) – has also won seven F1 drivers’ titles like Hamilton.
READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari in 2025
But Verstappen is fast closing in on Hamilton and Schumacher’s tallies having won 15 of the 22 Grand Prix in 2022 and 19 of the 22 events in 2023. He has also won five of the first eight rounds this year. Verstappen has also now won the third-most Grand Prix of all time with 59.
Verstappen even has a higher hit rate than Hamilton having won 30.57% of his 193 entries to the Briton’s 30.29% from 340. Schumacher won 29.64% of his 308 Grand Prix entries, as well. But Verstappen remains behind the Formula 1 icons for poles and podiums per race.
Hamilton has secured pole position in 30.59% of his entries, over Schumacher’s 22.08% and Verstappen’s 20.21% hit rates. He has also reached the podium in 57.94% of the Stevenage-born star’s entries. Verstappen (53.89%) leads Schumacher (50.49%) for podiums per entry.
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