George Russell and Kimi Antonelli will continue to race for Mercedes in 2026. It is now official: the contracts have been signed and, for at least another year, there is no turning back. Yet, during the summer break of this 2025 season, the contact between Max Verstappen and Mercedes was the topic on everyone’s lips.
Rumors suggest that the Brackley-based squad will hold a significant advantage heading into 2026 under the new regulations, and the four-time world champion is only interested in winning. Therefore, the theory that saw him moving to Mercedes to take Russell’s seat made perfect sense to many insiders.
Regardless, Mercedes decided to renew the contracts of their current drivers, and the 2026 lineups are now fully confirmed. But why was it rumored that Max would specifically step in to replace Russell?
After many years of racing against each other, it is evident that there is no love lost between the two. During this season, for instance, they came into contact in Spain in a rather peculiar way: Max refused to give the position back to the Briton and ended up colliding with the back of his car without yielding, subsequently receiving a penalty.
We have witnessed many such episodes between the two, and Russell has even gone as far as accusing Max of acting like a “bully.” This is precisely the reason many believe they could never have been teammates: too much tension within a team is counterproductive for overall performance.
Russell’s perspective on the Verstappen links
Despite the noise, George Russell admitted that he was never truly worried about losing his seat, stating: “As a team, you want the best possible pair of drivers on the market. Currently, Max Verstappen is the best on the grid. It doesn’t matter where you put the two best together: sooner or later, a clash is inevitable. But the situation Mercedes had with Lewis and Valtteri was perfect.”
Many believe that Verstappen is waiting for 2027 to potentially change teams, after observing the relative performances of the various manufacturers during the first year of the 2026 regulations. It remains to be seen if that team will indeed be Mercedes, but if it is, the situation that unfolded during the 2025 summer break is certain to resurface.
For now, Russell remains the cornerstone of the Mercedes project alongside the young prodigy Kimi Antonelli. However, the shadow of the Dutchman continues to loom over Brackley. If the Silver Arrows produce a dominant car for the new era, the battle between George Russell and Max Verstappen might shift from a fight over a seat to a fight for the world title—one where “inevitable” conflict will likely define the season.
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