'I'd be all for it': George Russell welcomes idea of having Max Verstappen in Mercedes

George Russell has given a thumbs-up to the idea of having Max Verstappen as his teammate at Mercedes.In a recent interaction, the Briton was confident of being able to match with the Dutchman after being the teammate of Lewis Hamilton for two years. Hamilton is set to leave Mercedes and join Ferrari in 2025. Thus, the Brackley team need a replacement for Hamilton and many reports have suggested that Verstappen is being considered for 2025 and beyond (although the Dutch driver has denied leaving Red Bull).

'I'd be all for it'

At the moment, Mercedes has junior driver Kimi Antonelli and the Dutch champion Verstappen as possible replacement choices for Hamilton. Outgoing Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz has also reportedly received a short-term offer from the Silver Arrows squad. On being asked about the prospect of having Verstappen in Mercedes, Russell said as per Motorsport.com, "I'd be all for it".

He further opined, "You know, coming into Mercedes in 2022 off the back of Lewis's legendary years and victories, that was a huge task for anybody jumping into a team where he's been for so long. I believe in myself, and you need to go up against the best in the same machinery and show what you have got, so I feel that having Lewis as my team-mate for the past three years... He's been a hell of a team-mate, such a great driver. And we push each other every single week and I think it's fair to say that, so I will welcome Max, I want to go up against the best. Everybody wants to prove what they've got, so make it happen."

Russell also opined on Adrian Newey who recently parted ways with Red Bull. He believes that Mercedes still have a lot of talented personnel despite many being poached by rival teams. While Russell supported the engineers in Mercedes, the 26-year-old also welcomed the idea of having an experienced and legendary engineer like Newey in his team.

In this regard, he said, "I mean, of course. You want to have the best engineers, the best drivers, the best mechanics, you want to have the best individuals [as] part of your team. But I think the team we have here, over the course of the last 12 years, the group of engineers that sit in the room next door are still the most successful engineers that Formula 1 has seen in the last 12 [or] 13 years."

Russell added, "Now we're going through a period where we're not achieving the success that the team once achieved a few years ago. But I have every faith in everybody, the people that won the championships, the new engineers and individuals who are part of this journey, to bring Mercedes back to the top."