George Russell and Red Bull chief Christian Horner have held informal discussions in recent weeks amid speculation over the Mercedes racer’s future. Russell is set to be out of contract at the end of the 2025 season.
The pair have not yet discussed a race deal, but are aware of each other’s situations, according to reports. The British driver has been linked to a switch to Red Bull due to uncertainty over Max Verstappen’s position.
The Dutch world champion has persistently been linked with a Red Bull exit amid their performance struggles and is said to have an exit clause in his contract, which runs until 2028. With no new deal yet on the table for Russell, Mercedes are said to be among the candidates interested in landing Verstappen.
Team boss Toto Wolff has said there has been no contact with Verstappen, however. Aston Martin are believed to be preparing a record-breaking contract offer worth £225million over three years.
“I’m super happy with the line-up we have, I couldn’t wish for anything better,” said the Austrian. “Max is at Red Bull, we haven’t had a conversation, we are continuing our trajectory.”
Russell is relaxed over his future despite the uncertain circumstances surrounding his team and a prospective future move. The 27-year-old is not expecting talks to progress until next month at the soonest.
“From my side, there’s literally no stress, no worries whatsoever,” Russell told Sky Sports F1 . “When it comes to contracts, everyone gets so excited about it, and the fact is, drivers have had contracts, and if they don’t perform, they’ll get booted out.
“For drivers, performance is our currency. That’s what we’ve got. And if you perform, everything’s good. So, I’m just excited to go racing this weekend, focus on performance, and the future sorts itself out.”
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Amid reports that Russell had agreed a new two-year deal to remain at Mercedes, the driver suggested the speculation should not be listened to. “Rumours are never that truthful are they,” said Russell.
“When you said rumours, I didn’t really listen so much. A few of them are reasonably close, I guess, but at the end of the day, we’ve never discussed a contract prior to May or June in a season.”
Wolff has already expressed how impressed he has been by Russell since he became team leader following Lewis Hamilton’s departure for Ferrari. “George is on Max’s level,” he said.
“He’s doing a top job. He was a little bit always, I wouldn’t say underrated, but people talked about Lewis or Max. And now you can see he’s delivering.”
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