George Russell would welcome ‘challenge’ of Max Verstappen as next Mercedes F1 teammate

George Russell says he would welcome the “challenge” of having reigning F1 world champion Max Verstappen as his next Mercedes teammate.

Lewis Hamilton’s shock decision to join Ferrari in 2025 has left Mercedes looking for a replacement to line up alongside Russell from next season.

With the controversy surrounding Christian Horner not dying down amid a rumoured fallout and internal politics within the Red Bull camp, speculation about Verstappen’s future has ramped up.

There have been suggestions that the three-time world champion could be on Mercedes’ radar to replace Hamilton with team boss Toto Wolff spotted deep in conversation with the Dutchman’s father, Jos Verstappen, after the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

“This is my third season now alongside Lewis, the greatest driver of all time, and I feel like I’ve done a pretty good job alongside him,” Russell said ahead of this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

“So whoever were to line up alongside me next year, or the years to come, I welcome anybody, I welcome the challenge.

“You always want to go against the best but ultimately for me, just focus on myself and believe in myself. I believe I can beat anybody on the grid and you have just got to have that mentality.

“Having Lewis as my benchmark for the last couple of years has been a pretty good benchmark for sure.”

Asked if he could see what would be a blockbuster switch becoming reality, Russell replied: “I think any team want to have the best driver line-up possible and right now Max is the best driver on the grid.

“So if any team had the chance to sign Max they’d 100% be taking it. I think the question is more on the other side, on his side and on Red Bull’s side.

“Obviously so much going on there and we don’t know what truly is going on behind closed doors and ultimately it’s none of our business.

“But I guess, yeah, it would be exciting.”