Russell leaves no room for Verstappen at Mercedes: 'I'll be here next year'

Russell's comments come amid speculation that Mercedes could pursue Max Verstappen's services, after news that the Red Bull driver will lose his trusted race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase to McLaren in 2028.

Moreover, this website understands that continuing at Red Bull Racing appears to be an option that clearly ranks below several other possibilities.

Mercedes announced contract extensions for both Russell and teammate Kimi Antonelli in October 2025, but not before months of speculation over whether team principal Toto Wolff could move for Verstappen, with the Austrian known to have had a long-term interest in the Dutchman.

In December, Russell admitted the saga had "to some degree" left him feeling taken for granted at Mercedes, but after a strong start to the 2026 season, he made sure to remind media on Friday that: "I will be here next year."

Speaking to media, including GPblog, performances clauses in Russell's contract were raised with the Briton, and whether it was as simple as hitting certain targets and 'rolling' into a new contract.

Russell responded: "Yeah, pretty much. You hit the metrics and you move on. I will be here next year with the team and that's that, so there’s not very much more to say.

"It's a multi-year deal, it's numerous years, as we said last year, and often a lot of these contracts even if metrics aren't hit, if things are happy then you continue but as I said metrics will very likely be hit."

Russell entered the year widely tipped to be the favourite, but after Antonelli's consecutive victories at the Chinese and Japanese Grands Prix, many are wondering whether he is starting to feel the pressure, sitting nine points behind his teammate in the standings.

The 28-year-old responded with a measured outlook on his opening three races, when asked whether there would be an 'extra critical eye' should he not win the next race at Miami.

"No, not at all, to be honest, because it's a hell of a long season and no championship's ever been won after three races, so for me, it's always important to maximize the results," Russell said.

"I'm not leading the championship, but I've got to be honest, when I look at the circumstances of the last two races, I actually feel like I've maximized my results, and that's all I can do.

"If things had gone slightly differently in Suzuka, I think I could have won that race. If there was no safety car at all, I think I'd have finished second in that race behind Piastri.

"And when I have a clean weekend as I have in Melbourne, I know I’ve got the capability of being on pole and winning the race.

Russell was then asked whether he saw the 2026 fight for the title as just an all-Mercedes affair, and if so, whether the Silver Arrows would give equal opportunities to their drivers.

"Firstly, 100% they will give the same opportunity to the two of us. That's always been the case for Mercedes ever since, and Rosberg days.

"Of course, I hope it's just the two of us going for the championship, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself.

"I've said this numerous times, in 2022, after three races, I think Leclerc had a 30+ point lead, and Verstappen was saying the championship was over, and Ferrari were the quickest. And then at the end, they were not.

"I think we have a very good direction, the correlation is very good. We're ticking all of the boxes that tell us we have a really great foundation with the car. But of course, these things change."

Russell pinpointed McLaren as a big improver at Suzuka, arguing Oscar Piastri could have won the race had it not been for an unfortunately timed Safety Car, but the Briton maintains he is still not thinking about the world title.

"We know McLaren have not brought a major update recently. When you look at their performance in Suzuka, as I said, I think Piastri could have won that race without any safety car at all.