Christian Horner flags clever George Russell plan as Mercedes ace 'still on the market'

Christian Horner believes that George Russell's comments about Max Verstappen's Mercedes talks were a deliberate ploy to give him 'leverage' in contract negotiations. The Red Bull team principal also made it clear that he felt it was 'remarkable' that the Brit was still 'on the market' for the 2026 campaign.

Both Russell and Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli remain without contracts for 2026 and beyond, leaving them vulnerable to be poached by rival teams. This is because Verstappen, who has won the last four Drivers' Championship titles, could quit his Red Bull contract early amid the team's current struggles. Verstappen's talks had been a point of pure speculation until the Austrian Grand Prix weekend, when Russell let on that conversations were ongoing between the Dutchman's entourage and Toto Wolff's squad.

According to Horner, this could have been a calculated move from the 27-year-old. "With any driver's contract, there is an element of a performance mechanism," the Red Bull boss explained.

"And of course, that exists within Max's contract. His absolute intention is that he will be there and driving for us in 2026. It's inevitable that he's of huge interest to any other team in the pitlane. Actually, probably George triggered all this speculation probably trying to leverage his own situation and force clarity.

"You can understand [that] because he's driven a very good season as well this year. Inevitably, there will always be speculation. I think the most important thing is the clarity that exists between Max and the team, and that's very clear."

Should Verstappen depart for Mercedes, Russell has been tipped as the logical replacement candidate for Horner and Red Bull. Despite that, the 51-year-old maintains that no discussions have taken place between his team and the four-time Grand Prix winner.

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"It's remarkable that George is still on the market," Horner continued. "We haven't engaged in any discussion with George, so he's obviously pretty confident that he's going to get to retain where he is. But, look, we've got a strength and depth within our team.

"In 2026, it is going to be a transformational year. It's the biggest rule change in Formula One, probably in the last 50 years, where both chassis and power units are being introduced at the same time.

"Nobody with hand or heart can know what the pecking order is going to be. It could be either one of these gentlemen sat either side of me (McLaren or Aston Martin), it could be Ferrari, it could be Mercedes, it could be anyone.

"So I think there's an awful lot of subjectiveness to 2026, and it'll only be really this time next year that you'll have a clear indication of what that pecking order is. So there are no guarantees that jumping into a Mercedes car would automatically be a better proposition."