George Russell claims Max Verstappen 'confrontation inevitable'

George Russell has offered a vital reason why Mercedes didn't try harder to sign four-time F1 world champion Max Verstappen.

Verstappen was the subject of many rumours surrounding his long-term future at Red Bull, with Toto Wolff publicly pursuing the Dutchman for the 2026 season, with Mercedes rumoured to be the team best placed to master the new regulations.

However, after the summer break, Verstappen confirmed that he would definitely be staying with Red Bull for 2026, which set in motion a chain of events which saw both Russell and Kimi Antonelli handed new contracts at Mercedes.

Now, Russell has suggested that he was never worried about the prospect of losing his seat at Mercedes, despite stating that teams wouldn't want to put two brilliant drivers next to one another in the two seats.

Russell's fiery relationship with Verstappen was one of the main reasons why Verstappen was being linked to replace Russell rather than Antonelli, with it not thought that the pair could work together well as team-mates.

"I was never worried about losing my seat," Russell told Auto Motor und Sport. "As a team, you want the best possible driver pairing available on the market, Verstappen is currently the best driver on the grid.

"No matter where you put the two best together, a confrontation is inevitable sooner or later, but a team like Mercedes had with Lewis and Valtteri, that's perfect."

Will Verstappen join Mercedes in 2027?

Russell's comments suggest that he and Verstappen will not be team-mates in 2027, unless they can repair their relationship.

At the end of the 2024 season, Russell accused Verstappen of 'bullying', while the Dutchman appeared to intentionally crash into the Brit just six months later at the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix.

It's thought that Verstappen will use the 2026 season to find out which team have mastered the new regulations, before making any decisions on his 2027 future.

If Red Bull fail to give him a car capable of challenging for a world championship, then it's likely that the Dutchman will look to move away from the Milton Keynes-based outfit.

That would leave Russell and Antonelli once again fearing for their future as a driver pairing at Mercedes.

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