Russell can thank Verstappen: 'He holds the best cards'

15:52, 01 Aug

byTim Kraaij

George Russell suddenly holds the best cards again for negotiations with Mercedes. According to Martin Brundle, the Brit would do well to postpone the contract extension for now.

For months, George Russell has been waiting for clarity from Toto Wolff. Russell would like to extend his expiring contract with Mercedes, but he was put on hold because of Max Verstappen. Wolff wanted to bring Verstappen to Mercedes, so a new contract for Russell and Antonelli was delayed.

Now that Max Verstappen has publicly announced that he will stay with Red Bull Racing until 2026, nothing stands in the way of a new deal for Russell. However, Brundle believes that Russell is now in a position to demand more from Mercedes.

George Russell

Can Russell now negotiate with Mercedes?

''Performance is everything. There's no doubt about it. They all roughly know what each other earns. So George is not going to want to be underpaid. Why should he be?''

''But he wants some certainty. What he won't want to do is find himself in this position again next year if Max Verstappen happens to be on the market.''

''If I was managing George, I would have said 'don't say you'll drive for nothing or don't say you'll pay', because that's going to come back and hurt us somewhere. But I know the point he was trying to make.''

Finally, Brundle concluded: ''The cards have turned around, haven't they? Because suddenly George is far and away the best driver available in the world in Formula 1.''

''He doesn't have a contract next year. So now suddenly he's like, I'm going to slow this down a little bit. That's how I'm reading it.''

A deal doesn't seem to be much further away though. GPblog already reported on Thursday that a new contract for Russell and Antonelli will be announced.