With Lewis Hamilton leaving Mercedes, his home for 12 years, ahead of the current season, it was time for George Russell to step up as the team’s new leader, and so far, he’s taken up the responsibility well, delivering two podium finishes in the first three race weekends. Nevertheless, Russell cannot afford to be complacent.
The 27-year-old is currently P4 in the standings, 17 points behind leader Lando Norris. It is as good a start as Mercedes boss Toto Wolff could have envisioned, as he admitted to being impressed by Russell’s driving.
For his P3 finish in China, Wolff even gave Russell an A+ grade, which was surprising. “George’s driving was an A+, and I rarely give that grade. But he got the most out of the car,” the Austrian said.
However, Russell made an error in the following weekend in Japan—one that former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher pointed out.
Schumacher believes the Briton made a mistake during qualifying, which cost him pole position on the day. The German warned that such errors at the highest level could risk cutting his Mercedes career short.
“You have to see that in qualifying. In the first sector, he has already thrown it away, thus also the chance for the pole position and the chance for the race win,” Schumacher said to Sky Germany.
“SO wird Russell NICHT bleiben dürfen…!”
Jeden Dienstag nehmen euch Ralf Schumacher und Peter Hardenacke mit auf eine packende Reise hinter die Kulissen der Königsklasse des Motorsports.
“Backstage Boxengasse” – gibt`s überall, wo es Podcasts gibt.#BackstageBoxengasse pic.twitter.com/4zeY6asdlb
— Sky Sport Formel 1 (@skysportformel1) April 9, 2025
On top of that, Russell hasn’t outperformed his 18-year-old rookie teammate, Kimi Antonelli, as comprehensively as many expected. In Japan, he finished just one place ahead of him. His assessment? Russell “has to do more.”
The Mercedes driver’s performance was then compared to Max Verstappen’s.
He clinched pole and drove flawlessly around Suzuka to win his first race of the season, finishing ahead of two faster McLaren cars. And with Verstappen being a driver Wolff has often praised in the past, Russell should be worried.
Could Verstappen replace Russell?
Red Bull has been Verstappen’s home in F1 since day one, and on several occasions, the Dutchman has reiterated his love for the team, insisting he’d like to stay there forever. But with performance issues creeping in of late, doubts are beginning to emerge.
Verstappen hasn’t publicly committed to Red Bull long-term for several months now and even admitted to holding talks with Wolff—an outspoken admirer—last year.
Wolff himself claimed in an interview that any team would be willing to perform ‘handstands’ if that’s what it took to sign Verstappen. With Russell’s contract with Mercedes set to expire at the end of the season, the Silver Arrows could potentially go all out to sign Verstappen.
That said, Wolff—at least in front of the media—has expressed his desire to continue working with both Russell and Antonelli for the foreseeable future.
“I’m someone who sticks to what he says, and these two are the combination that I want to go forward with Mercedes,” the Austrian had said. “I have no other reasons to doubt that“.
Wolff added that he will most likely enter discussions with Russell to extend his contract during the summer break. This suggests that Mercedes will be closely monitoring Russell’s performance until then.
