Christian Horner’s statements about the fact that he was keeping an eye on George Russell for a possible Red Bull seat had the merit of irritating Toto Wolff.
Nico Rosberg, 2016 Formula 1 world champion, believes that Christian Horner (Red Bull) somehow achieved his goals by annoying Toto Wolff (Mercedes), who did not appreciate Horner asserting in front of the microphones consider George Russell as a possible candidate for a steering wheel at Red Bull. However, the ex-Mercedes driver thinks that all this is just a bluff and that the British team principal is not seriously considering the possibility of securing the services of the one who will have the difficult task of leading the Mercedes team once Lewis Hamilton leaves for Ferrari in 2025.
Destabilize Toto Wolff
“We are not afraid to move forward, to come out of the woods. George Russell is out of contract at the end of next year. It would be stupid not to take this into account.”Horner publicly declared during the Singapore Grand Prix weekend.
“It’s also a question of politics and strategy because he wants to destabilize Toto”estimates Rosberg at the microphone of Sky Sports.
Sergio Perez has spent most of this 2025 season under pressure as Max Verstappen’s teammate. At Red Bull’s sister team VCARB, Horner and Marko have decided to replace Daniel Ricciardo with Liam Lawson for the end of the season.
“If Toto suddenly hears Horner talking about Russell, and Russell doesn’t have a contract, Toto might think, ‘Should I try to get an option on George?’ »poursuit Rosberg. “It’s destabilizing. It’s part of the game.”
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Russell will team up next season with rookie Kimi Antonelli at Mercedes, about whom many questions still arise. The duo of young drivers in any case has the strong support of Toto Wolff at every speech from the man who spent months trying to destabilize the Red Bull clan by courting Max Verstappen.
Red Bull’s main current problems concern the performance level of Sergio Pérez, who is far from irreplaceable despite having a contract in place. Pérez once again arrived in tenth position at the last GP, in Singapore, while Red Bull tries to defend its crown in the constructors’ world championship against McLaren and even sees itself threatened for second place by Ferrari.
“Max was at his best last weekend. This is what makes the gap so significant”rappelle Rosberg. “The Red Bull car is going through a difficult time and Singapore is the worst circuit for it. He really has to improve at some point. Otherwise, we will question it next year. »
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