Christian Horner has already made George Russell thoughts perfectly clear after statement
Christian Horner has revealed George Russell is on Red Bull's driver radar with the Mercedes star's contract expiring at the end of 2025.
Christian Horner had already made his feelings clear on George Russell – even before he intriguingly name-dropped the Mercedes man. The Red Bull driver merry-go-round has cranked up again, with Daniel Ricciardo set to be dropped from the sister RB team and replaced by Liam Lawson for the rest of the season.
Meanwhile, Max Verstappen’s teammate in the main team, Sergio Perez, remains under intense pressure following a torrid 2024. It’s not certain the Mexican will complete the season, let alone retain his place for 2025.
It’s a familiar episode for the Milton Keynes team, which has dispensed with numerous drivers over the years – and some very talented ones at that. Red Bull have options in their extensive young driver pool, but team principal Horner insists the team is prepared to look beyond their own stable.
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Unprompted, when quizzed by Sky Sports F1’s Martin Brundle at the Singapore Grand Prix, Horner highlighted the fact Russell’s Mercedes contract expires at the end of 2025.
He said: “We're not afraid to go out of the pool. George Russell is out of contract at the end of next year and it would be foolish for us not to take that into consideration. There are other talented drivers who could well be out of contract as well."
Horner is clearly a big fan of Russell, praising the British driver numerous times over the years. Back in 2020, Russell, then of Williams, replaced a Covid-sidelined Hamilton for the Sakir Grand Prix and almost won the race.
“If George was on the open market then I think a lot of teams would want to snap him up,” Horner told Sky Sports F1 at the time. “He’s a great, young talent but he is under contract to Mercedes and I’m sure they have a clear plan for him.
“He’s going to be champing at the bit to get his chance now. I think he has served his apprenticeship [at Williams] and he’s obviously ready for that next step.
“You would be foolish not to look at him but I don’t believe that [Russell being on the market] is the case because of his agreement with Mercedes.
“But he needs that chance and opportunity now and Toto [Wolff] should give him a go. Lewis and George would be a strong dynamic and it would be great for British motorsport.”
In an interview with GQ in 2022, he was asked whether Charles Leclerc or Hamilton was Verstappen’s biggest rival. Again, he took the opportunity to name-check Russell, saying: “We know that George Russell is extremely talented, we know Lewis Hamilton is a seven-time world champion who’s obviously pretty motivated as well.
“So I think Formula 1 has some great talent, with some great young talent emerging. I think that Max and Charles is a really exciting dynamic in particular.”
With young hotshot Kimi Antonelli replacing Ferrari-bound Hamilton for 2025 and Mercedes team boss Wolff eager to snare Verstappen one day, Russell may have to look elsewhere for 2026.
