Judging by pre-season testing in Bahrain, George Russell should sense his future inside his attain. The jury is out on whether or not the Mercedes W16 is nice sufficient to struggle for the title, however thus far it has a minimum of demonstrated encouraging tempo and poise on-track. Lewis Hamilton is gone – not into retirement, as Russell would as soon as have anticipated, however to Ferrari – clearing the way in which for a brand new spearhead of what stays, for all its current troubles, an F1 powerhouse. Nevertheless, the scenario is a bit more difficult for Russell.
The 27-year-old heads into what must be his peak years, within the candy spot the place he has racked up six seasons of expertise earlier than the chance that the relentless grind takes its toll and wears him down, able to be the principle man at Mercedes. Final season was his most spectacular in F1, with victories in Austria and Las Vegas – on prime of a superbly-executed on-the-road win at Spa that was misplaced to being underweight. But for all that, Russell is at a crossroads that makes 2025 probably career-defining.
Russell is out of contract on the finish of the yr, as Purple Bull staff principal Christian Horner likes to level out, and though you’ll count on him to be the Mercedes lynchpin for years to return, that future shouldn’t be sure. Workforce principal Toto Wolff’s long-term pursuit of Verstappen is one concern, and it’s not as fanciful a chase as you would possibly suspect. Verstappen’s contract runs to the top of 2028, however there are methods out and he is perhaps tempted to interrupt away if this yr doesn’t go nicely for Purple Bull or the 2026 engine appears to be like unconvincing. Mercedes isn’t Verstappen’s solely potential vacation spot, as a link-up with Adrian Newey and Honda at Aston Martin has been broadly touted, whereas taking outing of F1 isn’t fully out of the query.
For now, Verstappen is an ethereal drawback for Russell; the extra tangible one is new teammate Kimi Antonelli. The 18-year-old rookie is regarded by many at Mercedes, most influentially Wolff, as its reply to Verstappen. That’s why he’s been fast-tracked right into a race seat after one patchy Formulation 2 season driving for struggling Prema. Wolff claims he determined Antonelli was the person to exchange Hamilton “5 minutes after” studying the seven-times world champion was off, such is the boldness in his expertise.
As for Antonelli, regardless of solely lately passing his highway driving check, he appeared comfy all through pre-season operating. That’s helped by an intensive old-car testing program, logging hundreds of miles in preparation for the step up, albeit in previous equipment utilizing the Pirelli Academy ‘demo’ tires. In Bahrain, there have been moments when he overdid it, which is inevitable given the steep studying curve, however he put collectively a race stint on the ultimate day that was much like that produced by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
The Italian downplays the concept he’s there to fill Hamilton’s footwear, saying “I don’t discover it proper to say that I’m his substitute”, and he’s proper to aim to pour chilly water on the concept regardless of in prosaic phrases being precisely that. Mercedes regards him as a driver who can win a number of world championships, piling on the stress for a Hamilton-in-2007 fashion rookie yr. The need to stay as much as that billing maybe contributed to the shunt on his second flying lap when he made his FP1 debut at Monza final yr. A second look in Mexico later that season was extra subdued, suggesting an necessary lesson had been realized not just for Antonelli himself, but additionally these backing him. If the automotive is as much as it, he’s positive to bag some eyecatching outcomes.
Forty or 50 years in the past, Antonelli could be the apprentice to Russell’s grasp. Nevertheless, in trendy F1 younger drivers are so well-prepared that there’s not time for a stint within the shadow of a longtime star earlier than the baton is handed over. At this time, future world champions are anticipated to seize it reasonably than ready, and that’s what Antonelli has in thoughts. That’s the nightmare situation for Russell.
But it’s simply as doubtless, maybe extra so, that Russell will make it more durable for Antonelli to make the impression he desires. Over the previous three seasons, Russell’s status has been enhanced by how he’s fared in opposition to Hamilton. Of their first two years collectively, they had been shut in qualifying, however in 2024 Russell was comfortably the stronger of the Mercedes drivers. On common in dry situations, the place a good comparability may very well be made, he was 0.215% faster than Hamilton. That equates to 0.170s round a mean monitor, which in trendy F1 is a decisive margin. Mixed with a step up relative to 2023 when it comes to lowering errors, it made for a formidable marketing campaign for Russell. Talking on the finish of final yr with reference to his excellent qualifying kind, he argued that displays the extent he has reached mentally.
“I simply felt actually assured within the automotive, assured in myself,” mentioned Russell. “Psychologically, I’m in a extremely good place, particularly in the case of these high-pressure situations, to get probably the most out of myself. I’m not going to match in opposition to my teammate, however when it comes to my very own efficiency I really feel I’m driving higher than ever.
Russell rated his Spa drive, the place he known as for a mid-race technique change, as the very best of his 2024 season. He was later stripped of the win after his Mercedes got here in underweight. Kym Illman/Getty Photographs
“Each driver is able to doing nice laps and nice performances, however when the stress’s up and it comes all the way down to that one lap in Q3, that’s the place it comes all the way down to your headspace. I’ve realized quite a bit about myself and methods to get probably the most out of myself. I do know what works for me.”
The psychological facet of a driver’s sport makes the distinction between being a world champion able to profitable a double-digit variety of grands prix and one who solely exhibits flashes of genius. Russell is teetering on the point of establishing himself as being of title-winning caliber, and in addition confirmed his willpower to not be a pushover final yr by drawing a agency line within the sand for F1’s present prime canine, Max Verstappen.
After profitable the Qatar Grand Prix, Verstappen criticized Russell for pushing stewards to penalize him for driving unnecessarily slowly throughout qualifying, saying “I’ve by no means seen somebody making an attempt to screw somebody over that tough” and “I misplaced all respect”. A couple of days later, in Abu Dhabi, Russell gave his response by launching a volley of broadsides at Verstappen, who he mentioned had “bullied” drivers, “can’t take care of adversity” and that “he’s taken it too far”. And Russell laid out his critique of Verstappen at nice size, repeating it throughout his open media session later that day after initially laying down the regulation with a small group of journalists that RACER was a part of.
Russell actually felt Verstappen had overstepped by criticizing him in Qatar with out giving any proper of reply, however there was extra to it than that. It was a measured, calculated, pointed warning that Russell received’t again down and cede to Verstappen. In brief, his message was ‘don’t mess with me’, a notion he hopes is at the back of Verstappen’s thoughts subsequent time they cross swords on monitor.
Now that Russell has talked the speak, there are many indicators that he can again it up. He’s unquestionably quick and has produced many completed race drives. Certainly, that misplaced Spa win final yr, after calling for a swap to a one-stop technique, was the one he rated as his better of 2024. As a driver, he’s able to startling tempo, specifically when the automotive provides him the through-corner stability he wants to hold the pace. There have been query marks about race tempo, notably when it comes to his tire administration in comparison with Hamilton, however that is a facet of his sport that has additionally improved.
Russell might ‘solely’ have three grand prix wins to his title, however he’ll win extra given the prospect. And shutting out alternatives extra often is the goal he’s set himself and the staff for this yr, automotive permitting.
“You possibly can’t put a determine in your expectations, as a result of the automotive may very well be fast sufficient to win each race or it may very well be fast sufficient to win no races, and also you’ve acquired to regulate these expectations,” says Russell. “Final yr, we missed a number of alternatives. We led seven races and I solely received two, and felt like we may’ve received extra. So it’s simply making an attempt to maximise each single end result it doesn’t matter what place which may be.”
Russell is aware of that doing that is the one factor that can guarantee he’s not knocked off trajectory. Even when the equipment doesn’t let him show that with outcomes this yr, he should carry out at a excessive stage to see off the challenges of Verstappen and Antonelli and shore up his place, and standing, at Mercedes. And there’s no query Mercedes will need him to do this.
If he does that then a brand new Mercedes deal must be assured, and a world championship victory looms ever bigger on the horizon.
