George Russell and the Ferrari F1 move that could rescue his career

George Russell

George Russell and the Ferrari F1 move that could rescue his career

How Ferrari can save Russell

Dan Ripley Global Editor

Professional F1 journalist and analyst

Saturday 1 August 2026 13:10

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George Russell is at a crucial point of his Formula 1 career where one wrong turn could ruin it.

As has been suggested previously, Russell is at the Daniel Ricciardo point of his career where a young whippersnapper has usurped him as top dog in a team and now he has a choice to make.

Stay at Mercedes or try your hand elsewhere. The issue for Russell is 'elsewhere' isn't looking that tempting at the moment.

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Only four F1 teams including Mercedes can offer anything like a car that can win a race right now and McLaren is a closed shop, Red Bull doesn't appear to be a good fit, and Ferrari are locked in with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.

That's 'fine' to an extent. Providing Verstappen stays at Red Bull (and while not certain, that's looking likely) Russell's seat in a front running car looks secure.

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George Russell's Mercedes problem

For 2027. Then what? We don't know how Russell's 2027 will go. Maybe he could bounce back and get the upper hand over his Italian team-mate like he did in 2025, but that's hard to see, especially with the 19-year-old clearly over the confidence issues that plagued him through the European rounds last season.

And while Russell has an option for 2027, he doesn't for 2028 - and then Mercedes signing Max Verstappen becomes an even bigger threat than it has been for the past two years. It's almost certainly going to happen at some point. Verstappen and Toto Wolff even holiday together!

Ferrari to Russel's rescue!

If Mercedes do sign Verstappen it will be to partner Antonelli. Russell would get lost in the shuffle here. There is though a Ferrari move that can rescue Russell's F1 career.

It's not for him though, it's for if Ferrari sign Antonelli. The best Italian driver since the 1950s is going to end up at Maranello eventually and it could be sooner rather than later.

Right now, Hamilton and Leclerc are tied in for 2027, with Hamilton enjoying a much better second season with the team and Leclerc recovering after a poor start and with a new contract into the 2030s.

This time next year though, who knows? Hamilton's age might actually start to affect his speed (it will eventually), Leclerc might get fed up and decide to want out (not impossible). The point is while Ferrari are stable now, we really don't know what the future looks like in 12 months.

Ferrari would turn their attention to Antonelli, and is he really going to turn down the drive that every single Italian racer dreams of?

Verstappen and Russell at Mercedes?

That leaves room at Mercedes so that even if Verstappen joins , Russell can still have a chance to stick around.

How long a team like Verstappen and Russell can last (they are not exactly best mates) is anyone guess, but that's going too many 'what ifs?' for now. Speaking of which, who knows how good an Adrian Newey Aston Martin car will be by 2028 to entice Russell?

Right now though it seems there are only four teams with title credentials. Of them, Ferrari could be the biggest factor in saving Russell's F1 career at the top and it all comes down to how high Kimi Antonelli's stock is next year.

F1 George Russell Kimi Antonelli