Christian Horner’s George Russell namecheck a ‘knife throw’ at Toto Wolff

Nico Rosberg says Christian Horner namechecking George Russell as a future Red Bull option is “a bit of a knife thrown towards” Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.

Speaking amid speculation that Daniel Ricciardo is about to lose his seat with Red Bull’s sister F1 team RB, Horner said it would be “foolish” for his team not to consider attempting to sign Russell when his contract with Mercedes expires at the end of 2025.

"We've got a gap now but we just want to take time to consider what do those options look like for the future," Horner told Sky Sports F1 at the Singapore Grand Prix.

"And we're not afraid to go out of the pool. You know, George Russell is out of contract at the end of next year. It would be foolish not to take that into consideration. There are other talented drivers that could well be out of contract as well.”

Wolff, meanwhile, accused his counterpart of “stirring sh*t up” with his comments about being interested in Russell.

"I think he is always stirring sh*t up, it is part of the game," Wolff responded. "George is a Mercedes driver and has been forever and hopefully will be forever. We have a long contract with him."

Speaking as a guest on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, 2016 world champion Rosberg said Horner’s comments are an attempt to put pressure on his rival Wolff.

“That was a bit of a knife thrown towards Toto there, I felt. It puts the pressure on Toto to make a decision because George doesn’t have a contract,” the German said.

“Christian could be really naughty and just try and snatch him away from there and try and lock him in through contract already now.

“I don’t know if George would even be interested, but it does add the pressure for Toto, a comment like that.”

It comes after Mercedes have been publicly courting Max Verstappen, who is under contract at Red Bull until the end of 2028, for months.

Verstappen’s future was the subject of debate earlier this year because of the controversy within Red Bull following allegations made about team principal Horner.

Wolff said he would “love” to have Verstappen as Lewis Hamilton’s replacement for 2025 but ultimately decided to promote Mercedes’ teenage prodigy Andrea Kimi Antonelli alongside Russell.

However, the Austrian refused to rule out further “flirting” with Verstappen over a future F1 seat at Mercedes.