RacingGeorge Russell says Formula 1 would keep going without Max Verstappen, but he also made clear why he would understand it if the Red Bull driver decided to walk away. Speaking in a Mercedes virtual media session on Friday with outlets including NU.nl, RacingNews365, Express Sport and select F1 media, Russell said Verstappen has already done almost everything there is to do in F1, and that his current frustration looks different now Red Bull is no longer winning at the front.
“Formula 1 is bigger than any driver,” Russell, Mercedes driver, said in that Friday media session. He then added, “You wouldn't want to lose Max because I think we all enjoy racing against Max. It's just part and parcel of Formula 1.” The point was simple enough. Russell does not think the championship depends on one driver, even one with Verstappen’s status, but he still sees the four-time champion as someone the grid wants to race against.
Russell also tied Verstappen’s criticism of the current rules to where Red Bull now sits competitively. In the same Friday media session, he pointed back to Mercedes’ own struggles in 2022. “I didn't enjoy driving the '22 car when it was porpoising up and down, killing everybody's backs,” Russell, Mercedes driver, said in that media session. “The car was big, it was heavy. The high-speed corners, it wasn't very pleasant to drive around. But he didn't have the same complaint because he was winning.”
Russell said Verstappen’s complaints now are not the same as those coming from Mercedes, Ferrari or McLaren. “We're at the front end of the grid, and this is only natural,” Russell, Mercedes driver, said in the same Friday media session, before adding that “you do understand and recognise the frustration.” He was not dismissing Verstappen’s point. He was saying the view changes when the results do.
That fed into Russell’s bigger point about where Verstappen is in his career. “He's achieved what most drivers dream of, which is winning a championship. He's got four of them,” Russell, Mercedes driver, said in the same Friday media session. He added, “At the end of the day, I guess you get to a point in life that there's not really much more for him to achieve in Formula 1. He's ticked all the boxes.” Russell said records may still be there to chase, but he framed Verstappen’s next choice in more personal terms.
“You want to do what puts a smile on your face,” Russell, Mercedes driver, said in that Friday media session. He then pointed to the Nürburgring Nordschleife as an obvious example. “I can totally understand why driving the Nordschleife puts a smile on his face. I've driven hundreds of laps around the Nordschleife on the simulator, and I would love to have that chance.” Russell contrasted that with his own target, adding, “My goal now is to become a Formula 1 world champion. If I have four of them under my belt, I'd probably be doing the same.”
Russell’s comments came after Verstappen’s recent warnings following Suzuka and in comments to Viaplay that something is fundamentally wrong with Formula 1’s direction, and that something would need to change if he is to stay beyond the next two or three years. Russell, in the same Friday media session, said Verstappen is “in a very different stage of his career” and summed it up this way: “I think you'd understand if he stayed and you'd understand if he went.”