Christian Horner’s revelation that George Russell is on Red Bull‘s radar should come as no surprise.
The regular Red Bull driver saga is in full swing, with Daniel Ricciardo set to be dropped from the sister RB squad and replaced by Liam Lawson for the rest of 2025. Meanwhile, in the main team, Sergio Perez, is under intense pressure following an awful season which has seen him get nowhere near the pace of world champion team-mate Max Verstappen.
The Mexican could lose his drive for 2025, and possibly before if his struggles continue. It’s become a familiar trend for Red Bull, who have regularly chopped and changed drivers over the years.
The Milton Keynes squad do have options in their young driver stable, although team principal Hornerinsists the team is prepared to look beyond that, as they did when hiring Perez in 2021. During the Singapore Grand Prix weekend, Horner highlighted the fact Russell’s Mercedes contract is up at the end of 2025.
He told Sky Sports F1: “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.”
Horner is a long-term admirer of Russell, praising the British driver several times in the past. In 2020, Russell, then of Williams, replaced Hamilton, who had been sidelined by Covid-19, 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.”
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Then, in an interview with GQ in 2022, Horner was asked whether Charles Leclerc or Hamilton was Verstappen’s chief rival. Again, he took the chance to mention 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 teenager Kimi Antonelli replacing Hamilton, who is off to Ferrari, for 2025 and Mercedes team boss Wolff making no secret of his desire to sign Verstappen one day, Russell could have to look elsewhere for 2026
