Last Updated on July 4 2025, 12:07 am
The Formula One driver market is in a strange place at present, with two of the top four teams having locked down their driver pairing on multi-year contracts. Only Red Bull and Mercedes have yet to make decisions over their two drivers for 2026, although Max Verstappen is of course on a deal with his team that runs until 2028.
Much has been made of the fact that George Russell does not yet have a contract with Mercedes for next season and rightly so. Now in his fourth year with the team Russell is clearly showing the way to his rookie team mate, who has scored just over a quarter of Mercedes points so far this season.
Kimi Antonelli was billed as Mercedes answer to the young Max Verstappen, but as yet he has to show his true potential despite a podium finish in Canada. His kamikaze move into turn three in Austria which wiped out the world champion before a lap was completed, was a sharp reminder to all that the 18 year old Italian has a lot to learn.
With this in mind, even the confirmation from both Toto Wolff and George Russell that Verstappen is holding talks with Mercedes does not explain why Russell who is head and shoulders ahead of Antonelli has not received a new contract for next season and beyond. And it confirms there is actually a possibility that Mercedes could drop Russell should Max come a calling.
Arch rival of the Red Bull team boss has been offering his thoughts on the situation which includes the inevitable dig at the Milton Keynes based team. He believes Verstappen at Mercedes is something to be feared, speaking to assembled media ahead of the British Grand Prix.
“That’s a bit scary,” said Brown. “I think Mercedes is clearly on a forward trajectory, Red Bull clearly is not at the moment, and Max is an unbelievable talent. So Max in a Mercedes – that’s some pretty serious competition.”
The McLaren CEO was asked whether the 2025 drivers’ title race was now between just his two drivers, or whether Verstappen still has a hope of claiming that record fifth consecutive championship. Max lies currently third some 61 points behind leader Oscar Piastri although George Russell in fourth has closed the gap to the Red Bull driver from a 37 point deficit to now just 9.
“No, it’s way too early. He’s [Verstappen] an unbelievable talent of course, and I don’t think George Russell is out of the game. You know we’re not even halfway through this season. We see how quickly our season turned around last year. There’s absolutely no reason why that can’t happen with Max or the Mercedes specifically,” said Brown
“George, because of where he is in the points, and even Ferrari, so I think we’ve just got to keep doing what we’re doing. It’s great that we have a nice lead. It’s great that we extended it this last weekend but we got a lot of racing to go, so I still think you’ve got four drivers realistically in the fight for the drivers’ championship.”
Despite the threat Zak Brown sees should Verstappen join Mercedes, he is confident that the papaya liveried team currently has the best driver line up in F1. “I couldn’t be happier with our driver lineup. I’ve said it from day one that I think we have the best driver lineup in Formula 1 – I think sitting here right now it would be difficult to argue that factually it’s statistically true. And because of the characters they are the talent they are on the track off the track I wouldn’t trade our two drivers for any other drivers on the grid.”
Lando Norris comes into his home race at Silverstone on a high after his dominant weekend in Austria. The McLaren driver topped every track session in which he appeared and laid down one of his “best ever quali laps” to beat the field to pole position by over half a second. Lando has never won the British Grand Prix, but his six previous visits have seen him finish in positions 2,3,4,5,6 and 7.
Wolff speaks on Bottas to Alpine rumours
His boss Zak Brown sought to spice things up with his old adversary Christian Horner as he told Sky News today: “The fact everyone’s talking and no one is confirming anything tells me there are conversations going on. I said a while ago I wouldn’t be surprised to see Max in a Mercedes.”
He added in somewhat controversial fashion: “Red Bull would be behind Racing Bulls [without Verstappen]. They have done a great job and have a great racing car. I think Max is carrying them at the moment.”
The Racing Bull’s Liam Lawson has responded to Brown’s observations suggesting the McLaren boss does not know what he’s talking about. When asked by Motorsport.com if he agreed with Brown’s comments, Lawson responded, “I don’t think Zak Brown understands, honestly. So, yeah, it’s easy to comment on stuff when you’re not involved, and you’re outside of the picture, so I don’t think he understands.”
With Liam Lawson surviving just two race weekends alongside Max at the start of the year, the points table suggests Zak Brown’s point is not too wide of the mark. Verstappen has scored 155 or Red Bull’s 162 points meaning the rest scored by Tsunoda is a fraction of the team’s total score.
Further, since being dropped Lawson has picked up 12 points for the Racing Bulls, this puts him ahead of Red Bull number two Yuki Tsunoda who is P17 in the drivers championship while Lawson sits in 15th.
Whatever the decision between Verstappen and Mercedes, this episode has demonstrated that Mercedes feel no loyalty to George Russell. If push came to shove it could easily be Antonelli who is the genuine potential partner for Verstappen, if and when he completes a move from his Red Bull family.
Sacked FIA official to challenge FIA president
Mohammed Ben Sulayem, the current president of the FIA is up for re-election in December this year, and its fair to say since Jean-Marie Balestre some 50 years ago there’s never been a less F1 sympathetic ruler in the Place de Concorde. There is a loose tradition, that FIA presidents will stand unopposed in their second and third terms but such have been the ructions made in the organisation by the incumbent, it was inevitable one faction who oppose Ben Sulyam who’d find a stalking horse.
The current president is the first since Balestre who has no previous F1 experience and given the importance of the blue ribbon event in the FIA’s portfolio of motorsports, it has been telling the number of disputes between the governing body and the teams and drivers.
Jewellery and underwear bans were first on Ben Sulyam’s agenda back in 2022, then the president was warned off by Liberty Media for suggesting the FIA was indeed the true owner of F1. More recently the Emirati has been hitting the headlines, with his authoritarian clampdown on drivers swearing, although he was forced to back down this year over his three strikes and a ban for repeat offenders….. READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
