George Russell has recently been very enthusiastic about keeping Max Verstappen in the sport for as long as possible. This has come at a time when the Red Bull driver has been giving constant threats to leave the sport if it doesn’t change. Russell, who is yet to be involved in his first-ever championship battle, insists that he wants to fight the best in the world. As a result, he wants Verstappen to stick around long enough to turn that dream into reality.
In recent times, the Dutchman has hinted about leaving F1 on more than one occasion, and its increasing frequency has fans worried. Admittedly, the two-time world champion has been criticizing several aspects of F1, like the introduction of new races, and the addition of Sprint weekends.
At the moment, Verstappen doesn’t seem to be a fan of the changes that are taking place in F1. Hence, he has stated that retiring at the end of the 2028 season, when his deal with Red Bull runs out, isn’t a very bad idea. “I don’t want to spend my best years physically just in Formula 1. With the races multiplying, 23 or 24 a year is far too many,” said the defending champion as per Sports Illustrated.
Now, Russell decided to call out the Red Bull driver’s tactics out, after talking about his potential retirement. In a recent statement, the Brit said that the Red Bull driver has devised a plan to grab more money through this, and gave him a challenge to fulfill.
George Russell believes Verstappen is greedy, but wants him to stay
George Russell feels that Verstappen is playing dirty and flirting with retirement rumors, just to get a salary hike. According to The Race, the Mercedes driver said, “I think he’s whinging because he wants more money!”
“He’s the highest-paid on this grid, and rightly so for what he’s achieving, but I think it’s all a big tactic, his threat of retirement and whatnot,” the 25-year-old further asserted. However, the Silver Arrows ace also wants the Dutch driver to stay in the sport for one more reason.
Speaking on it, the former Williams driver revealed, “I hope he doesn’t [leave], I hope he stays for as long as I stay because I want to fight against the best drivers in the world, fighting head-on-head with Lewis [Hamilton] at the moment, I want the chance to do that with Max and with Charles [Leclerc] and with Lando [Norris].”
Can Russell and Norris challenge Max Verstappen one day?
Even though Max Verstappen is currently miles ahead in terms of performance with his RB-19, Trevor Carlin believes George Russell and Lando Norris have the potential to dethrone Max Verstappen one day.
Carlin, the man who brought the young Brit to the sport remains firm on his belief that Russell will reach the top of F1 someday. He said as per Metro UK, “If the stars align, he [Russell] can absolutely be a champion.” With this, Carlin also emphasized how the 25-year-old is the rightful heir to Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes.
On the other hand, Carlin also spoke up on Norris and said the 23-year-old has really been quick throughout his career. Hamilton is the greatest British F1 driver of all time, but having new talents from the country like Russell and Norris will surely add up excitement levels related to F1 in the nation.
