One of Formula 1’s top-performing drivers so far this year is without a contract for next season.
George Russell hasn’t been out of the top five all year and has a trio of podium finishes. With 73 points he lies 26 off the lead, and if Mercedes can wring a few tenths of a second from their W16 he may yet become a serious player in the fight for the championship.
Rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli is doing a fine job in the other Mercedes seat. But Russell is setting the standard and scoring the bulk of the points so isn’t it time Mercedes firmed up his deal for next season?
There is one obvious reason why team principal Toto Wolff may be reluctant to do so: Max Verstappen. Red Bull have lost their performance edge over the last 12 months and have embarked on an ambitious plan to build their own power unit for the first time when F1’s new regulations come into force next year.
Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko has claimed Verstappen could leave the team before his current deal expires if certain performance targets aren’t met. Should Mercedes ensure the door remains ajar for the four-times champion – or make a show of faith in the driver whose career they started backing eight years ago?
For
Verstappen is unlikely to leave Red Bull and if he does Mercedes is unlikely to be his destination.
The four-times world champion understands the importance of consistency within an organisation and the difficulty relocating might involve – as exemplified by Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari. He knows his championship success is the overwhelming priority at Red Bull.
If he does look elsewhere, Aston Martin are far better placed than Mercedes to secure his services. There Verstappen would be reuniting with Adrian Newey, widely regarded as F1’s best designer, and Honda, with whom he has an excellent relationship.
Russell has performed superbly so far this year and given Mercedes no reason to replace him. With the prospects of hiring Verstappen so remote, it’s time to reward him with a confidence-boosting contract extension.
Against
Russell is undoubtedly a top-drawer, race-winning driver with the potential to fight for world championships. But he has not yet proven himself in the particular intensity of a world championship fight.
Verstappen is different: Not only is he a proven champion, but a formidable competitor unlike any other in F1. Not merely an extremely fast driver and ruthless wheel-to-wheel racer, but utterly single-minded in his determination to win.
Some might question whether that approach would work so well outside a team which he has cultivated around himself for nearly a decade. But you can’t fault Mercedes for wanting to bring him within the fold, however remote their chances may appear.
Perhaps this will be the year Russell has the chance to prove himself a genuine title contender. In the meantime, Mercedes’ pursuit of Verstappen makes perfect sense.
I say
That said, Aston Martin seems a likelier ultimate destination for him, if not as early as next year then potentially 2027, after Alonso has seen out the last year of his contract and Verstappen has had the opportunity to assess Red Bull’s first power unit.
It’s true that the longer Mercedes wait to firm up a deal with Russell, the longer it is going to look like it lacks faith in him. But as the driver himself is unlikely to have any better offers on the table, from Mercedes’ point of view, it doesn’t need to rush things.
Mercedes should re-sign Russell and I suspect they ultimately will, but they may prefer speculation to remain centred on Verstappen for now.
You say
Should Mercedes extend Russell’s contract into 2026? Cast your vote below and have your say in the comments.
Do you agree Mercedes should re-sign George Russell for 2026?
- No opinion (2%)
- Strongly disagree (9%)
- Slightly disagree (7%)
- Neither agree nor disagree (6%)
- Slightly agree (21%)
- Strongly agree (55%)
Total Voters: 144
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Jere (@jerejj)
27th April 2025, 9:06
Strongly agree & ultimately, this matter is barely even worthy of speculation since Russell isn’t going anywhere anytime soon anyway.
His continuation is more or less a mere formality in the end.
Ferdi
27th April 2025, 11:41
Is it? I wouldn’t be so sure.
Adrian Hancox (@ahxshades)
27th April 2025, 9:19
Counterpoint – should Russell re-sign with Mercedes for 2026, is there a better alternative for him?
anon
27th April 2025, 11:21
@ahxshades where exactly would Russell go though?
If the implication is that Verstappen would be leaving Red Bull because he thought their future prospects looked worse than at Mercedes, then that would suggest moving to Red Bull would be a bad move for Russell. A move to Ferrari doesn’t look likely any time soon either, and some might suggest that would be a sideways move at best, and potentially a downgrade at worst.
Given where Russell is, the only team that might be an upgrade would be McLaren – but Norris and Piastri have contracts until the end of 2027 and 2028 respectively, and McLaren have shown no signs of wanting to cut their contracts short. Mercedes is probably the best seat on offer to him at the moment – anything else is probably a sideways move or a downgrade.
BarSnacks
27th April 2025, 15:25
Aston Martin
Mooa42
28th April 2025, 0:46
@anon Even if McLaren didn’t have contracts, would Russell be seen as an upgrade to either of it’s current drivers? I think I’d rate Russell lower, not much lower, and potentially equal, but not an upgrade.
Valinor
27th April 2025, 9:26
Why is it unlikely? Toto really wants him and Toto has still not warmed up to Russell the same way he did to Lewis. The fact that there is still no contract proves that also.
Toto saying he won’t actively chase Verstappen basically means he is still interested but the initiative should come from the Verstappen camp. If Verstappen wants that seat, Russell is out for sure as they definitely won’t release Antonelli.
People say Verstappen should wait another season to see which car is doing well under the new regulation but staying another season is also a risk. Toto will sign Russell and that door will close because Russell is not a bad driver. If the Mercedes is the best car, he will bring home the championship. There won’t be a reason for Mercedes to drop him after that especially since they have Antonelli which they see as their future.
Which for 2027 will leave Aston Martin. Even though it’s Newey with Honda, it’s not a guarantee for success.
Also Mercedes is not a team to fall back hard. The new regulations are in their favor and they have shown they have the ability to bounce back to at least have a car that can fight at the front.
Of all the teams, Redbull looks the worst for 2026.
The only problem for Mercedes is that it will destroy Antonelli’s progress, but on the other hand, Verstappen is still young also so it’s not really an issue for Mercedes.
anon
27th April 2025, 11:32
Valinor, the claim that there is no contract extension yet is proof that Wolff doesn’t like Russell seems tenuous, given that Wolff has never signed a contract extension this early in the season for any driver. If you look at when previous contract extensions were signed between Mercedes and their incumbent drivers, it was usually the case that the extension would be signed from around September onwards.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
27th April 2025, 9:43
Aston Martin already has 3 drivers going for 2 seats (Alonso, Tsunoda, Stroll). Alonso’s contractually bound, Tsunoda’s very likely to be insisted upon for Tsunoda and Stroll might as well have a contract (though it could be set aside if Honda put the stakes high enough, precisely because of the “might as well have”). No space for a fourth driver, no matter what calibre.
Ferrari can’t take Verstappen because he has the wrong attitude to the non-driving part and McLaren doesn’t need Verstappen’s services. So if Verstappen decides to leave Red Bull, Mercedes is by far his best choice for the next destination (the second best, curiously, is Williams).
However, Verstappen still has the power to strongly influence his surroundings at Red Bull, something he won’t get at any other team. That is why he is likely to stay and why re-signing Russell is Mercedes’ likely eventual move. If Verstappen is in discussions with Mercedes, however, there is no reason to dissuade the conversation (if nothing else, it provides valuable intelligence about the Red Bull situation).
Robbie1
27th April 2025, 10:40
“ Ferrari can’t take Verstappen because he has the wrong attitude to the non-driving part”
Enlighten us, in all your wisdom, why Max, who seems to live and breath racing, regulary buys and races Ferrari’s, is well respected in the racing world, is a family man pur sang and has the press eating out of his hand, has the wrong attitude for the non driving part?
Be warned: the only thing you’ll expose is your own toxicity
roadrunner (@roadrunner)
27th April 2025, 15:10
It’s because he has a different/difficult personality. He’s not shying away from any fights of and on track. He does not come across very charming and he says whatever he wants whenever he wants to say it in an more often not particularly polite way which is a PR nightmare.
Ferrari is a car maker that is operating globally and it’s elderly and conservative clients are presumably more offended than appealed by his language and his behavior.
Also Verstappen is only focused on racing. He doesn’t do music, fashion, environment or any other more or less interesting stuff that for what ever reason could convince people to buy a Ferrari. So his marketability outside the Netherlands is poor.
Having said that it’s pretty much the same (bar the rough appearance) that was written about Schumacher before he came to Ferrari. So if Ferrari will be looking for a replacement of Hamilton I think they will at least consider Verstappen. For him, outside the bad influence of the Redbull cosmos, it would be certainly a way to grow as a person like Vettel and Schumacher did.
Coventry Climax
27th April 2025, 20:57
In my eyes, PR itself has become the nightmare, and I’d love to see more people speak their minds – as long as they don’t insult others- , and not shy away from any verbal fight because of financial blackmail or even ‘legal’ blackmail, as seems to be the trend these days, both with the FiA as with certain western world countries.
Ferrari would rise in my regards if they’d hire such a ‘rebel’. Not that they will though, they themselves being exemplary in their subjugation to the FiA.
Konstantinos
27th April 2025, 23:18
It is an interesting point although I would imagine that Louis is even more unsuitable if Ferrari are indeed targeting old, rich, conservative people considering the causes he promotes, the music, the fashion. If anything, Max has more of a traditionalist, old-fashioned vibe to him, the stoic type that speaks his mind and all that.
For both it’s just personal opinion on what vibe they give out though, who knows who they really are as people (not us, that’s for sure).
El Pollo Loco
28th April 2025, 2:02
Ferrari doesn’t need anyone to promote their cars. It’s nearly impossible to get a new one even if you have the money. You have to be a long time owner of multiple cars to have any chance of getting their newest models.
They signed Lewis because Ferrari merch is huge business in its own right. That and brand licensing from theme parks to LEGO toys to video games and a thousand other things. A million people buying a $50 Ferrari that that cost $5 is huge money itself.
BasCB (@bascb)
28th April 2025, 7:13
But when they signed Hamilton, their stock value immediately up jumped by more than what they will be paying him over his contract, exactly because Hamilton “sells cars” for them El Pollo Loco.
And stock value is what gets the stock markets, the investment funds and therefore the corporate leaders excited.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
27th April 2025, 9:49
It doesn’t matter.
Contracts in F1 are meaningless, as has been proved time after time after time.
If a team want’s someone else, then they will pay you off. Easy.
Sign George so you know you have a good driver who fits well in the team.
If Max becomes available …. goodbye George.
Ferdi
27th April 2025, 11:45
I agree and one should also not see Toto as a nice guy when it comes to business. That would be a great underestimation of him.
SteveP
27th April 2025, 18:54
In business, they have a word for people who are nice all the time: redundant.
To quote a chief exec I was drinking with at the time: “business is business, and pleasure is pleasure, don’t try and drag the former into the latter”
Coventry Climax
27th April 2025, 21:19
Do you awfully mind if by my book, that would be called an overestimation?
Ferdi
29th April 2025, 12:33
;-) you are right
El Pollo Loco
28th April 2025, 2:06
I couldn’t disagree more. If contracts didn’t mean anything Checo would have been replaced during the season last year. Contracts only mean nothing when a team is willing to pay out tens-of-millions of dollars to break them. Laurent Rossi’s ill-advised decision to give Ocon a long term contract cost them both Alonso and Piastri. So, they’re far from meaningless.
Matthew Archer
27th April 2025, 10:31
Nobody should sign Verstappen as there should be no room in this gentleman’s sport for someone who so flagrantly disregards the rights of others.
Ferdi
28th April 2025, 9:00
I also long back to the days of processional victories of Mercedes. ‘After you’. ‘No, after you please’. Or need be: ‘Valtteri, it’s James’. Let’s not make any hands dirty in trying to win championships. These cars travel at dangerous speeds as well, so some courtesy would be better.
Peter707
27th April 2025, 10:37
If Antonelli is such a supertalent, potentially the best driver of the next generation, then there is no reason to partner him with the best driver of the actual generation. Just like Alonso was not hired to partner the young Vettel, or Hamilton was not hired to partner the young Verstappen.
satellite
27th April 2025, 11:09
But Alonso was hired to partner young Hamilton.
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
27th April 2025, 11:28
If you read it again, it doesn’t say that Alonso & Hamilton weren’t partnered.
Putting a two time world champion next to a youngster who becomes a seven time world champion was such a headache I imagine Dennis & Whitmarsh are still taking paracetamol. It was such a massive drama even Pedro de la Rosa got cast in a supporting role.
I think George is quietly doing a very good job so far. But I think most tellingly is that his contract being up at the end of the season, implies nobody else wants him, and Mercedes know it.
If Toto rated George the same way he rates Max, George would be locked down until the end of the decade.
Davethechicken
27th April 2025, 13:15
Spygate was a huge complicating factor for the internal team relationships.
Without that it would have been a lot less complicated.
SteveP
27th April 2025, 16:36
Starting with Tramadol, down through something like Zapain and tapering off with Paracetamol.
As far as pain is concerned though, Verstappen comes in two generations
Peter707
27th April 2025, 11:40
And it turned out to be a disaster.
F1 frog (@f1frog)
27th April 2025, 11:21
I think Russell is possibly the 2nd best driver in Formula 1 currently, or more likely 3rd narrowly after Leclerc. But the gap between those two and Verstappen is significant enough that it would be worth waiting if they think they have a genuine chance of getting him. But I don’t know if they have a chance or not.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
28th April 2025, 5:59
The thing I don’t agree with, but that goes for most comments, is this idea that signing russell means you can’t get verstappen: we’re talking about mercedes, they have plenty of money, they can sign russell and in the remote case verstappen shows up break the contract.
Red bull can do that, ferrari can do that, aston martin can do that, prob even mclaren.
Rooie Piet (@axel3304)
27th April 2025, 11:46
If they can sign Verstappen they’ll surely find a way to get rid of Russell (or Antonelli). Same way Ferrari got rid of Raikkonen in 2010.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
27th April 2025, 18:59
Mercedes are more likely to get rid of Russell, if their power unit is that much better. Because the guy in charge cares more about things like branding, demographics, and king-making. Wolff would have it perfectly both ways, he could give Max wins, then use Max when Wolff wants to discard him, and have Antonelli beat him completely. Not unlike the last few years of HAM’s career at Merc.
If Merc are more concerned with winning, they will retain Russell. Because Max really isn’t that great if hes not the only driver on a team, and he has to worry about the stewards. Russell would beat Max handily, on a team that was giving him 50/50 support. Not the lawyer speak Wolff was giving to the fans during HAM vs ROS days when reliability was the real glass ceiling holding either driver back (more notably during 2016).
Russell has nothing to fear from Max on equal terms period. The problem is, Wolff would never allow a property like Max Verstappen to be beat by George convincingly. Because that’s like letting a property devalue itself for no real value, because F1 as a whole, has not recognized George.
Patrick (@paeschli)
28th April 2025, 20:39
Did Hamilton lose the championship because of bad reliability or because the season started with Rosberg beating him 4 races in a row?
Ferdi
28th April 2025, 11:45
Or Sainz.
David Taylor (@gm8arv)
27th April 2025, 11:54
I’m unsure that Verstappen would fit in the Mercedes team as well as Russell. Is he really worth the upset he might cause? Is Toto perhaps just spreading uncertainty?
MacLeod (@macleod)
28th April 2025, 7:54
Mercedes is a German brand if you noticed Max speaks German and has many invites on German sportshows. Max is a nice guy for his team (enginering& monteurs) there will be not problem from that side.
Toto is playing games but he does that always anyway. We have to wait untill the end of the season for any certainly.
Ferdi
28th April 2025, 11:47
I think it is not so much Max as rather his entourage that brings a certain level of upset. Any team shying away from that should seriously reconsider their participation in the pinnacle of Motorsport. It just might not be for you if that would pose an issue. There are bigger challenges.
Neil (@neilosjames)
27th April 2025, 12:14
I think only one driver would (currently) be a clear upgrade on Russell, and that’s Verstappen. Going on recent years, where Max is most obviously ahead is in extracting the maximum from the car on race days, and that’s the most important part of the job, so if it was an easy and straightforward swap I’d say it’s worth it.
But easy and straightforward aren’t words I’d use when talking about Verstappen, or about the Red Bull-Mercedes relationship.
So I’d keep Russell and Antonelli, at least for one more season. Russell is probably the equal second-best performer at the moment, and Antonelli could develop into a top driver too, so it’s not like Mercedes are in desperate need of new blood.
An Sionnach
27th April 2025, 12:30
It’s hard to know. We don’t have enough information. Even Verstappen probably doesn’t and needs to concentrate on this year. There is a chance that Toto is playing poker by refusing to negotiate on 2026 engines to make it appear that Mercedes has somehow worked out the 50-50 split and tempt Verstappen to jump.
Places where Verstappen could go…
McLaren: If Mercedes is the engine to have, why not go to the best team with that engine? A Verstappen – Piastri match-up could be interesting!
Mercedes: Option two, perhaps? I’m not sure it would be good for Antonelli to be paired with Max.
Ferrari: Only if Lewis departs. This wouldn’t make sense unless they somehow develop an untouchable engine and car. The Ferrari way might drive Max mad as it did Lauda and Prost.
Aston Martin: I have my doubts about this team. I have wanted it to succeed since it was Jordan, but it can never get there. I don’t think Newey is enough to fix all of its problems. Newey is a great and I think it’s good that he has secured a deserved pay packet for his last F1 job, at least. If Honda and Newey deliver, I think there are too many barriers to success: the race team, strategy, implementation of Newey’s design. The team is always on the cusp of success. This could be its greatest moment. I feel it is more likely to end up in Saudi hands within the next couple of years. If this happens, I won’t be blaming Lawrence Stroll. There has to be a point at which even he has to get out. It may already be past this, but Honda + Newey + Alonso (or better still, a misguided Max) might be keeping the plan on life support.
An Sionnach
27th April 2025, 12:43
“Best team”? I’ll have to disagree with myself, there. McLaren has the best design team, but the racing one is lacking when it comes to strategy compared to Mercedes. They can both manage pit stops, at least, unlike Aston Martin.
Alex Peak
28th April 2025, 17:40
Max would only go to Ferrari if Leclerc loses faith in them and decides to leave but I could see them going for an all-new lineup (ala-1996) for 2027/’28. Ferrari will prioritise Ollie Bearman’s development over getting Max first. And I genuinely think he’d rather retire than go to Lawrence Stroll’s cynical nepotism led Aston project which feels closer to Jaguar in the early 2000s than anything resembling a top team.
Yes (@come-on-kubica)
27th April 2025, 13:25
I think Russell and Verstappen are fairly equal in talent. Not sure Verstappen would thrive at Mercedes especially with Jo’s in tow. Mercedes went with Antonelli may as well stick with Russell. It’s not really a surprise he’s performing in a car more tailored for him. Give him a front running car that Hamilton had and I think he would walk the world championship.
Dex
27th April 2025, 14:04
Where could Russel even go? They can wait until the last moment and try to get the better driver, and if not, he’ll be there waiting. That’s the reality of F1.
An Sionnach
27th April 2025, 14:41
It would be funny if Russel gets a contract with McLaren or Ferrari and Max stays put. Not that I think this is likely, it’s just that Russell shouldn’t have to worry about having no drive at the end of the season. This can happen to the best. Prost got fired close to the end of the season twice. He was lucky that McLaren swooped for ’84, but he was out of luck for ’92 so he sat the season out.
Alex Peak
28th April 2025, 17:36
At least Ferrari did Prost a favour because the F92A was dreadful. If he hated the 642/643 and the team environment as much as he said he did, god knows what the F92A would do to him.
Patrick (@paeschli)
28th April 2025, 20:41
Surely if Verstappen leaves Russel should be Red Bulls’ first option?
MichaelN
27th April 2025, 15:05
If Verstappen is available, Wolff would not be doing his job if he weren’t trying to sign him.
Russell is good. But he’s more Häkkinen good than Hamilton good. Whether or not he should be resigned long-term all depends on how much time Mercedes wants to give Antonelli. If Antonelli keeps trailing Russell into the next season, it’s probably better to keep Russell. He’s still in his twenties, and is dependable if not spectacular. He’d be a formidable second driver alongside Verstappen, making it easily the best line-up of the big teams.
Dex
27th April 2025, 22:41
He got the better of Hamilton, and they spent three years together; so it’s not unfair to say that Russel is better than Hamilton. That doesn’t paint the whole picture, but I do appreciate Hakkinen at least as much as Hamilton. If he had the same car Hamilton did, and lacked Schumacher as competitor, he’d win it seven times too (well, he’d probably beat Rosberg for the eighth as well). It’s all so relative. I could be terribly wrong. How can we even know? I’m just having fun guessing, but we shouldn’t get too carried away with drawing conclusions.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
28th April 2025, 6:06
I agree, to say hamilton is plain better than hakkinen is an exaggeration, titles don’t tell the whole story, as evidenced by alonso having 2 titles, a driver who matched hamilton the only time they were team mates and, considering the worse car, outperformed him the years after (I know hamilton was a rookie in 2007, but he had an exceptional rookie season, so don’t think that means hamilton can only have got better, 2008 was a worse season by him imo).
Now obviously russell is facing a pretty old hamilton, it’s safe to say he’s no longer at peak, I suppose peak hamilton would have some margin on russell.
Other example of titles not telling the whole story: vettel has 4 titles! Alonso outperformed vettel by every metric, ricciardo outperformed vettel and has no titles.
Ideals (@ideals)
27th April 2025, 15:38
Russell has won a few races, and also lost a few due to dumb mistakes. He can drive a fast car decently fast, but I have yet to see a stand- out drive from him in F1. He’s been around for a while, too, so you’d expect this to have happened by now at least once. A stellar pole lap, an unforgettable wet weather performance.
If you ask me he’s Ralf Schumacher, not Michael Schumacher. So if the question as asked by the poll is, should you commit to Ralf when there’s a decent chance you could get Michael instead. Or even worse, should you commit to Ralf, making sure Michael cannot and will not drive for you when he becomes available? I’d say that would be a mistake.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
28th April 2025, 6:12
If we’re talking stellar pole laps, russell has a good pole position in hungary during the verstappen dominant era, when it was impossible to win any race if you weren’t verstappen, should be 2022, then in the race he defended too hard and that ended up compromising his tyres and hamilton, who started very far behind, ended up further ahead.
Don’t remember an unforgettable race performance, wet or dry, I think your point stands.
However I think it’s an unfair comparison to say he’s ralf schumacher, there’s a big difference in performance between the 2 brothers, russell is something in the middle, as someone said before he’s probably comparable to hakkinen, or maybe raikkonen, some top driver who’s clearly not the best of his era.
DMC
27th April 2025, 16:33
I think yhey would be mad not to. Russell has proven himself to be fast and capable of oustanding results time and again. I think James Vowels is right to intimate that verstappen comes with too much baggage. Used to be a verstappen fan but I have seen too much of the sulking and sometimes intimidating nature, from him and his father.
Dane
27th April 2025, 16:59
Why would Max leave Red Bull when he’s winning and taking pole positions and Mercedes and Aston are not? Until that equations changes it doesn’t make sense for him to leave.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
28th April 2025, 6:17
Yes, good point, in particular there’s an argument that can be made that if you put russell at red bull and verstappen at mercedes, it might be mercedes to get poles and winning and russell won’t, I don’t think it’s a slight at russell to say that, cause the cars are close and verstappen is better, but when it comes to aston martin, even with newey coming, why should verstappen believe they’re capable of making a good car? They’re nowhere atm, even my ex-school classmates, who follow f1 a bit, aren’t optimist on newey being able to turn aston in a top team.
Dane
27th April 2025, 17:21
Why would Max leave Red Bull when he’s winning and taking pole positions and Mercedes and Aston are not?
David B
27th April 2025, 19:16
Mercedes has one of the best driver line-ups going forward & a great future if they improve on the car. Swapping out Russell for Verstappen would be a real silly move at this point.
BMW P85 V10
27th April 2025, 20:24
Everything comes the (non) availability of Max for 2026. Allegedly Max has a clause in his contract in which his standing in the WDC will determine wetter he is free to go or not.
If Wolff wants max, he will know about this clause and will be waiting to sign Russell until there’s more clear about Max’ position.
Than we have Russell who’s having the best season he’s ever had. But shouldn’t he be more in the mix if he was a true WDC contender? The Mercedes is more close to the McLarens than the RB. Mercedes performs well on all circuits. Jeddah Data showed that Mercedes was fastest in slow corners, faster in high speed corners and had a very good top speed. I think Russell had a pole in his hand but yet he came in third with qualifying.
Edvaldo
27th April 2025, 22:12
Why shouldn’t they?
He’s been better than ever, pushing a not-so-strong car within reach of the fastest most of the time.
Unless they’re in some advanced talks with Max, he’s their best option for now.
BenHur
27th April 2025, 23:25
Will Aston Martin deliver? Seems like a long shot. Even with Adrian Newey. They had a decent start in early 2024 and have gone from bad to worse ever since.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
28th April 2025, 6:20
Yes, was thinking the same, it seems very far fetched to expect aston to jump from a midfielder to the best car, I don’t think newey alone can do that.
PeteB (@peteb)
28th April 2025, 16:36
Far fetched maybe, but not impossible… Red Bull were a midfield team but then along came a big regulation change, Newey worked his magic and they went on to dominate for years.
I wouldn’t want to bet too much money against him doing it again!
Mike Don Spivey
28th April 2025, 0:07
Remember, with Max, you get Jos for free. That alone would tip the scales for George.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
28th April 2025, 6:21
Unless they sign a “only one verstappen” contract!
Conky81
28th April 2025, 8:04
Verstappen is overrated so they should definitely keep Russel and Antoneli long term. Toto knows this and is just playing games. As for where Verstappen will go… I don’t think Stroll’s organisation is devious enough to get a head start on the new 2026 rules like Red Bull did in 2022, which made all the difference. Also I don’t think Stroll has the clout to get away with it even if they did come up with something and get caught. It’s a tough one for Verstappen. There might be a wild card like Ferrari. Either way, he won’t be winning his 1st deserved championship for a long time, if ever.
Ferdi
28th April 2025, 11:54
If they stumble over another 8 year dominance streak, Max would be a 12*WDC in the end. Hope that piece of history never repeats itself though. The most boring and processional era in F1 history (2014-2020).
Craig
28th April 2025, 13:03
It’s a laughably unlikely thing to happen. I still think that Verstappen is more likely to simply leave F1 rather then go to another team, likely going to GT racing.