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Russell finished in 10th at the British Grand Prix

Russell felt taken for granted during talks between Verstappen and Mercedes

19:00, 23 Dec

Updated: 19:26, 23 Dec

byTim Kraaij

George Russell has spoken about his frustration and feeling unwanted by Mercedes, following the team's pursuit to sign Max Verstappen. In conversation with GPblog, the Brit explains how he felt sidelined as Merc boss Toto Wolff continued in his attempts to sign the Dutchman in the early part of last season.

“You're appreciated if you think you're getting your worth, and you feel unappreciated if you're not.”

- George Russell

For Russell, it was a remarkable Formula 1 season. The 27-year-old driver became the de-facto team leader at Mercedes following Lewis Hamilton’s departure for Ferrari. And with rookie Kimi Antonelli alongside him, it was now up to Russell to carry the Mercedes team.

And the five-time race winner did so admirably with a string of impressive performances, including victories in Canada and Singapore. Besides the two McLaren drivers and Verstappen, Russell was the only driver to win a race. In fact, many believe that had Russell been driving a McLaren last season, he would have win the title rather than Lando Norris.

Despite Russell's performances, which included seven further podiums on top of the wins, he had to wait for a new contract with Mercedes. Russell's whose contract expired at the end of 2025, had to wait until before the United States Grand Prix in October to sign a new contract, as Wolff was curious to see if he could tempt Verstappen into a switch to Mercedes in 2026.

The four-time world champion had already spoken with Wolff in 2024 and maintains a good relationship with the Mercedes team boss. However, it meant that Russell was left waiting before he officially ruled out a move to the Silver Arrows.

Russell felt undervalued

Speaking to a select group of media including GPblog, Russell was asked if he felt taken for granted during that period. He said: “Yeah, to a degree, but I wouldn't say that was because of the conversation that let's have a contract saga as such.

“It's very simple sometimes. You're appreciated if you think you're getting your worth, and you feel unappreciated if you're not, regardless of conversations that are going on.

“So that was kind of rectified quite quickly when we signed the deal and for me it was as simple as that, it was no distraction. Yeah, I just focus on the racing and I guess there's also some lessons for me that whatever the noises that's going on externally, there's no real need to worry too much about that.

“You can be the nicest guy or the most hated one, but if you get in the car and you do the job, nobody remembers or thinks about the rest, they only care about about the lap times.”

George Russell felt undervalued at Mercedes - Photo: RacePictures

Considering the entire contract saga, it’s all the more impressive how consistently Russell kept performing. He outperformed his teammate in qualifying and races for almost the entire season and finished in fourth place in the standings.

Russell achieved a total of nine podiums, including the two wins, and he also secured two pole positions.

After his own contract saga in 2024, Carlos Sainz explained how much time such uncertainty consumes within a drivers' mind as he waited to find out where he would drive for 2025 following Hamilton's switch.

He also said that while he could perform in the car, it occupied him day and night otherwise. GPblog therefore asked Russell whether it made his continued performance under that pressure even more impressive.

Russell found confirmation about himself

He added: "I guess I never doubted it, like how my performances would be under certain scrutiny and I think, with those regards, [the win in] Singapore was probably the weekend where the heat was turned up the most in terms of our negotiations and that was the weekend where I had my best race of the year.

“So yeah, I guess I am proud of how I dealt with everything, but I never doubted it. I didn't think it was gonna improve my performance. I didn't think it was gonna make my performance worse.

"I think we're always dealing with stuff as, like if we put it on a top level basis, as humans, every day, you have a good day, you have a bad day, one day you're happier, one day you're sadder, etc.

“And I've learned for myself, no matter my emotions, it hasn't really ever impacted my performance. So I kind of knew with all of that noise that was going on, I didn't think it was going to impact my performance at all. So I guess it's good just to get further confirmation of that.”

“I've always had the debate with my trainer, Alex, who's been with me for like eight years. And he always asked me, like, 'how does this situation, whatever that situation may be, not affect you?'

"I don't know, to be honest, because as I say, you can't be on it every single day as a person, but when I'm in the car, it doesn't matter what's going on in my personal life. It doesn't really affect me.”

Russell and Antonelli both were renewed Mercedes after Wolff gave up on trying to capture Verstappen, who will remain with Red Bull Racing for next season.

Want to read more from the Russell interview? Then also read the story below that previously appeared on GPblog.com, in which Russell said he would like to be teammates with Max Verstappen.

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