Russell gives blunt response over prospect of Mercedes team orders

The British driver is 59 points behind his teammate with 12 races remaining in the 2026 Formula 1 season. Russell is third in the championship, also sitting behind Lewis Hamilton, who hopes to mount a title challenge in his Ferrari during the second half of the campaign.

Asked whether he would be ready to accept team orders to help Antonelli win the title, Russell insisted that the prospect was "not even a consideration at the moment".

"Our rivals have definitely brought their upgrades before us and I think it'll be very interesting when we bring our upgrades, when they will be, how that impacts our performance. And I'm hoping that will, you know, push us more to the results we were seeing more consistently at the start of the year.

Despite the speculation surrounding Verstappen and Mercedes, Russell insisted that he never felt his seat was under threat and always had complete confidence in Toto Wolff and the team, something that remains unchanged following Verstappen's renewal.

He said during Thursday's press conference ahead of this weekend's Dutch Grand Prix: "It's only really a topic for us when you're sat in front of you guys in the press and you want to ask these questions and understand what's going on. It was always very clear from within Mercedes what the reality was over these past couple of years.