Red Bull boss sneers at Russell after Verstappen rumours spread

Earlier this weekend, Russell caused quite a stir by openly discussing his contractual situation for 2026, suggesting that Mercedes is still hoping to bring Verstappen to the team, and that this might be why he has yet to have a contract extension from his current team.

Although the Red Bull advisor apparently is not worried about the rumours surrounding Verstappen, inside the paddock, those talks continued, with Timo Glock suggesting that a switch of the Dutchman to Mercedes would make a lot of sense.

After the second free practice, Marko spoke to the media in Spielberg, including GPblog. In this conversation, the Austrian was asked about Russell's statements.

“What's up with him now?” sighed Marko when asked for his thoughts on Russell's admission. Once it was explained which statements were being referred to, he continued: “Russell does talk, but I thought he had a fixed contract for next year.”

“That must have changed since Montreal”, continued the 81-year-old, who couldn't resist making a slight jab at the British driver who stood on the top step of the podium in Canada. “Did his victory hurt him?” he remarked. 

Marko then emphasised that he does not want to engage with the statements made by Russell: “Well, I have no opinion on that”, he firmly declared.

“Russell says so much.” Why does the Mercedes driver do this? Marko had a very clear answer: “Theoretical game.”