George Russell weighs in on potential Mercedes team-mate amid growing Carlos Sainz speculation

The George Russell pose

With Carlos Sainz seemingly back in the frame for the 2025 Mercedes race seat, George Russell says it doesn’t matter who his team-mate is so long as they’re “pushing in the same direction”.

Following on from Lewis Hamilton’s surprise announcement that he’s leaving Mercedes at the end of this year to join Ferrari, the Brackley squad has been looking for a new team-mate for Russell.

Carlos Sainz? Kimi Antonelli? Max Verstappen?

Initially, Sainz was heavily linked to the seat, so much so there were contract discussions before Toto Wolff withdrew as he wanted to wait to see how his junior driver, Kimi Antonelli, performed in Formula 2.

There was also a bit of hope, and niggle, that Max Verstappen would want to leave Red Bull in light of the Christian Horner investigation and his father Jos’ response to it.

But six months down the line from the Hamilton announcement, Verstappen has bluntly said “yes” he will be a Red Bull driver next year and Antonelli has just one F2 victory and sits P8 in the standings.

That, in conjunction with Sainz not signing with Audi, Williams and Alpine, has led to speculation he’s back in the running for the Mercedes seat. Fuel was thrown on that fire when Wolff told Mundo Deportivo that the Spaniard, a three-time Grand Prix winner, is “definitely still a chance”.

Wolff’s only caveat is, and it is a big one given Sainz’s potential 2025 teams are signing other drivers, Sainz has to wait as Mercedes want “more time to decide”.

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But Russell, his potential 2025 team-mate, doesn’t care whether it is Sainz, or Antonelli, or even Verstappen. He just wants a team-mate who will help him push Mercedes back to the very front of the F1 grid.

“I’d welcome anyone, anybody to be honest,” he told the media, including PlanetF1.com.

“I’ve been lucky having Lewis for the last three years and we’ve had some great battles in the last couple of years.

“But as a driver, I think it’s important you have a good relationship between the two of you just to help that team momentum and pushing in the same direction.

“But ultimately, and when you walk into your garage, you put your helmet on, you jump in your car. It doesn’t really matter who’s sat in the seat alongside you.

“It’s like the race last week, when there’s been a drama or a bit of action that’s where the talking should be, and that’s how it always will be.”

As for whether the talk of Antonelli, or even Verstappen, being Mercedes’ future and the team chasing a new number one driver to replace Hamilton, Russell shrugged that off.

“No, no, to be honest, I think the results speak for themselves, and I don’t need to talk about it,” he said. “As many drivers say, you do the talking on the track, and I think the season’s probably one of the best I’ve ever had in terms of my own performance and grabbing the results when they’re coming.

“Of course, there’s a lot of talk about the second seat, but that’s normal. It’s exciting. Mercedes, one of the most successful teams in the sport, and it’s a seat that many drivers want.

“It’s like the race last week. When there’s a bit of drama or a bit of action, that’s where the talking should be, and that’s how it always will be. Yeah, nothing really more to say.”

Russell in seventh in the Drivers’ standings on 111 points, a point ahead of Hamilton after the seven-time World Champion’s British GP win.

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