George Russell came into the British Grand Prix weekend with a lot of speculation around his future at Mercedes, but so far he’s managed to drown it all out.
The Mercedes driver was firm in the Drivers’ Press Conference on Thursday by reaffirming his commitment to the team, while simultaneously stating that he knows where their “loyalties lie” in the driver market.
Paddock rumours suggest that Mercedes are in talks with Max Verstappen, after it emerged that there was a clause in his contract with Red Bull that enables him to leave if he isn’t in the top two in the championship at the end of June.
Russell has done well to escape the media criticism amid delays to any extension announcement to his contract, having qualified fourth ahead of both Ferraris for the British GP.
Discussing his laps on BBC Sport during qualifying, Damon Hill spotted one thing he loved seeing Russell do when speaking to his team over the radio.
Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images
Damon Hill loves ‘fantastic’ George Russell radio message to Mercedes
Radio traffic can often be busy at Silverstone due to the high speed nature of the circuit, with drivers regularly informed of the intervals by their engineers to ensure they don’t get in the way of each other.
Hill was impressed with how Russell handled the situation in Q1, when multiple drivers were starting laps while Russell was on an out-lap.
“George Russell, I think if he was flying your plane, you’d feel completely at ease that you’ve got someone in charge,” said Hill.
“He’s fantastic on the radio, I love the way he says to his engineer, ‘stay calm, give me logical clear instructions so I know what’s going on’. That’s typical George.”
George Russell thinks Toto Wolff has plan for Max Verstappen
Russell believes that any deal done between Mercedes and Verstappen would likely see them both paired at the same team.
Mercedes staff believe it would be ‘mayhem’ if they were both in the team, considering their previous conduct on track together.
Verstappen is not expected to make a move until 2027, as he assesses where the pecking order will be for the 2026 F1 regulation change.
Wolff is open to the idea of Verstappen joining Mercedes in 2028, which would be when his contract expires with Red Bull.
