At the 2023 Azerbaijan GP, Max Verstappen had an ugly altercation with Mercedes driver George Russell. After Russell overtook the Red Bull ace rather aggressively, Verstappen resorted to launching a scathing verbal attack on the Briton post-race. Their disagreement over the situation showed that it was unlikely they will work well as teammates. However, they could have ended up as partners in the same team, because Red Bull considered signing Russell, as per Business F1.
Max Verstappen actually called George Russell a ‘dickhead’ on live TV.
😂😂😂
— Ferrari News 🐎 (@FanaticsFerrari) April 29, 2023
Back in 2020, Alex Albon was going through a tough time at Red Bull. Being on Verstappen’s level is never easy, and Albon was being comprehensively outperformed by his teammate. In the end, Red Bull decided to part ways with Albon. Replacing him with a top-level driver became the number-one priority for the Austrian team, and one of the names they considered was George Russell.
At the 2020 Sakhir GP, Russell filled in for Lewis Hamilton (out with Covid-19) at Mercedes, even though his team was Williams that season. His exceptional performance caught the eye of Red Bull, who wanted to secure the services of the driver from Kings-Lynn.
Unfortunately for Red Bull fans, Mercedes team principal and CEO Toto Wolff intervened and stopped that from happening.
Wolff wouldn’t let Mercedes’ future join forces with Max Verstappen
Russell has been a part of the Mercedes setup since his early F1 days. He made his debut in 2019 for Williams, a spot which Wolff helped him secure. Even when he was driving for the British outfit, it was widely believed that he would be the future of Mercedes. Hence, Wolff was very protective of Russell and didn’t want him to join their biggest rivals.
Red Bull’s chief advisor Helmut Marko insists that they never approached Russell, because he was a Mercedes driver. However, Business F1 is adamant that the Milton-Keynes-based outfit was genuinely interested in landing him.
Admittedly, Russell too was frustrated at Williams, because his abilities were seemingly too good for their inferior mechanical package. Unfortunately for him, he had to spend another year at Williams. He showed the world how good he was on several occasions, and even guided his team to an incredible podium finish in Belgium. It was only in 2022 that Wolff finally called him over to Mercedes to become Lewis Hamilton’s teammate.
Would Russell and Verstappen have worked well together?
Today, we all know that Verstappen and Russell’s relationship is a bit frosty. Especially after the Azerbaijan GP, where the Briton was labeled as a d**khead by Verstappen. However, things could have been very different for both, had they ended up at Red Bull as teammates.
Both Verstappen and Russell are incredibly talented drivers, belonging to the same generation, so it is safe to say that they could both help Red Bull win world titles. Verstappen did go on to win both the 2021 and 2022 world titles, which made him a Red Bull and F1 legend.
Verstappen and Russell haven’t had many altercations on track other than their infamous Baku incident earlier this year. The dynamic between them, however, must’ve been very different had they not been in different teams.
