Russell the new Bottas? 'He may just get the same deal at Mercedes with Verstappen there'

Former Aston Martin F1 team engineer Bernie Collins, sees George Russell having a strong hand with which to negotiate a better deal with, with fellow Sky Sports presenter and former F1 driver Karun Chandhok suggesting Russell might as well be open to landing a mere one-year deal at Mercedes.

In Sky Sports broadcast Collins said: “I think that if I were in Russell’s position, you would probably want more than a one-year deal. You don’t want to be having this year-in, year-out, the conversation.

However, Mercedes are currently seen as the team in the strongest position going into next year with a more engine-dominated set of regulations set to be implemented in 2026.

In a bid to maintain team harmony,Mercedes chose to renew Valtteri Bottas on a year-to-year basis, seeing how the animosity grew to unprecedented levels at Mercedes as Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg's title fight reached a tipping point in 2016.

For Russell there may be no other alternative but to play ball and sign a one-year deal, should Verstappen choose to jump the Red Bull Racing ship over to Mercedes in 2027. Something that would stillgive him a shot to fight for the championship come next season, so all in all, not a bad option at all, according to Collins "So, I think Russell will want more than that, but he’s probably not going to be that unhappy either way.”

Team principal Toto Wolff has also openly stated he is waiting for Verstappen to 'make up his mind' on where he will drive next season.