How Russell aims to lead a Mercedes revival as its team leader

Whisper it quietly, but there is an air of positivity surrounding the Mercedes team as it embarks upon a new era led by George Russell. It is a freshness that evokes memories of 2013 following Lewis Hamilton’s arrival from McLaren and the addition of Toto Wolff into the management structure. Back then, ageing seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher left the Silver Arrows as it adjusted its driver line-up one year ahead of a substantial rule change and the introduction of the turbo-hybrid engine. Mercedes was reinvigorated, motivated and would go on to dominate Formula 1 for eight seasons.

This time, of course, it is the other seven-time world champion, Hamilton, who has left the team to join Ferrari one season before another big regulation change. Hamilton’s departure has lit up social media streams with images of him dressed in Ferrari red at Maranello, but back in Brackley at the Mercedes HQ there is no lamenting his departure. In fact, after a number of false dawns, this can be seen as a fresh start, spearheaded by Russell, who will inherit Hamilton’s position as the team’s leader. It is a challenge he is relishing, alongside mentoring his rookie team-mate, Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

Russell is an affable character to interview. He’s relaxed, engaging, articulate and passionate about the season ahead and how he is preparing to step up into his new role within the team. “When I joined Mercedes, I was very respectful of the relationship Lewis had with the team, and all the success they had together, plus Lewis’s approach with the team,” he reflects. “I didn’t feel that I was ever in the shadows, but I didn’t want to stamp my authority, because it just wouldn’t have been correct at all. Whereas now, I don’t need to stamp any authority, but it is a natural progression for us to start this next era with the team. We recognise what we’ve been doing for the last three years has not been working, so this is a fresh start, not only for myself or the team, also for Lewis. This is a new beginning for the three of us.

“It brings new motivation, it brings new challenges, and also with the arrival of Kimi, there might be some of the dynamic changing for everyone, and that may bring a positive feeling for all. For me, it’s come at the right time. I’m still 26 years old [Russell turns 27 on 15 February]. I’ve got so much time left in me. I feel like I’m improving as a driver. I don’t feel I’m in my prime yet because I recognise I’m still getting better every single year, and that excites me.”

Russell is mature beyond his years. His mannerisms, style – even the way he talks – and his clean driving style means he is the quintessential ‘gentleman’ racer, who would probably be more suited to competing and socialising with the likes of Graham Hill and Bruce McLaren than anyone currently on the F1 grid.

Russell was only in his third season of F1 in 2021 when he took the role of director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association. During his tenure, he’s overseen a near-driver strike following a missile attack at the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and become embroiled in the tensions between the drivers, F1 and the FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem. Autosport puts it to Russell that there is a sense of him coming of age and finding his voice to speak out on such matters against those in a position of power.

There's a new look and positivity around Mercedes in 2015, with Russell its new team leader

Photo by: Getty Images

“I’m not really too sure how to answer this, to be honest, but I just feel very much a part of this sport with Mercedes,” he muses. “I feel confident within myself. Ultimately, the driver needs to do the talking. You can have the best individuals talking off track and in front of the cameras, but if you don’t also do the job on the track then sorry, it’s for nothing. Within myself, I’m getting stronger as a driver year after year. I feel I’m getting stronger as a person, psychologically. Of course, it’s been challenging being team-mates with Lewis for three years in every regard. But you know, I feel I’ve dealt with that very, very well.

“My time will come. Whether that’s this year or next year, I have no doubt my time will come, and I’m just working so hard every single day for the moment when it comes.”

Perhaps the most notable example of Russell stepping out of the shadows and standing up for himself came in the form of his fervent criticism of Max Verstappen at the end of 2024. On the surface, it stemmed from the stewards’ room at the race in Qatar when Verstappen was hit with a one-place grid penalty for impeding Russell. The four-time world champion responded by targeting the Brit, saying “I’ve never seen someone trying to screw someone over that hard. For me, I lost all respect.” The insinuation was that Russell had coerced the stewards into issuing the penalty.

"I was a bit frustrated watching the season play out at the front last year. How Max was driving with regard to being harder and sort of bullying others around, showing his aggression in a manner that nobody stood up to. The only driver was Lewis; he was the only person to do that in 2021" George Russell

Verstappen would go on to double-down on his criticism of Russell at the season finale in Abu Dhabi. He took aim at Russell once more, accusing him of being a liar. “I just never expected someone to really try and actively get someone a penalty that badly,” Verstappen said, “and lying about why I was doing what I was doing. But clearly it had an influence on [the stewards].”

What followed was most extraordinary. Russell conducted his press conference, unusually with Mercedes boss Wolff by his side (the Austrian even interjected at one point), and delivered a damning assessment of Verstappen’s behaviour. In a speech that was laced full with emotion, Russell called Verstappen a bully and added: “He said he’s going to purposely go out of his way to crash into me and, quote, ‘Put me on my f****** head in the wall’.”

It transpires that Russell’s passionate outburst was the culmination of years of frustration at watching Verstappen’s behaviour. The language and tone may have changed since that final race in 2024, but it is clear that emotion behind his opinion has not dissipated.

Russell faced off against Verstappen late last year in a personal battle that is set to rage into this season

Photo by: Andy Hone

“I am entering my seventh year of F1 now and you do start to recognise where you are,” Russell explains. “You realise your own voice and the platform you have and the impact you can make. I thought it was important for myself, because I’m not going to accept being pushed around and disrespected in that regard so openly and publicly. That was the main driving force behind it. I’ve seen many people in life push and shove people around to get what they want. You need somebody to stand up to individuals like that. And nobody has done that whatsoever.”

Russell stops for a second and the speed of his voice slows before he continues, presumably reflecting on the end of 2024 and Verstappen’s clashes with closest championship rival Lando Norris in Mexico and at the United States GP, while there was also the contact that sent Oscar Piastri into a spin on the opening lap in Abu Dhabi.

“I was a bit frustrated watching the season play out at the front last year,” he continues. “How Max was driving with regard to being harder and sort of bullying others around, showing his aggression in a manner that nobody stood up to. The only driver was Lewis; he was the only person to do that in 2021 and that was obviously such a great season. I was frustrated watching the sport last year, when there should have been such a great title battle, and it was not, so those comments in Qatar tipped me over the edge. I just thought of everything that had happened, from the on-track driving antics to where he was talking off track. It wasn’t acceptable and something needed to be done.”

By taking such a stance and calling out Verstappen’s behaviour, Russell found himself in the firing line, not only from the world champion. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, for his part, had labelled Russell “hysterical”.

The King’s Lynn racer also drew the heat from the social media trolls. It is an unwelcome part of modern society and a subject we have discussed in the past. Russell now distances himself from the comments online, but was made aware of the abuse that had been levelled at him and his team members: “I have got to be honest. I didn’t see any of it myself, but I do know there was a lot of criticism out there. I know members of my team were receiving emails from Dutch fans. But I think that’s a part of sport and life, really, isn’t it? That’s something we accept. And you can choose to read it and let it have an emotional impact on you – even if you laugh at the comments, then that has an impact on you.

“So I just have this view and mentality that even with the positive comments, does it actually make me drive faster? Probably not, and there are more negative than positive most of the time, so I do really try and avoid it.”

The intrusion into his private life is also something Russell has had to contend with. The telephoto lenses that stretch into the paddock are also trained on him and his girlfriend Carmen Mundt, who he has been with since late 2020. Both have had to adapt to being in the spotlight. When asked whether he is more comfortable dealing with that, Russell replies: “I’m not one who chases the attention. To be honest, when I travel, I like to be private with my family or my friends. There are certain places that you can go where you know you’ll be photographed or seen and maybe in the press, whereas I prefer to stay a little bit out of the way, because that doesn’t bring me anything, really.

Russell with girlfriend Carmen Montero Mundt at F175

Photo by: Getty Images

“I’ve got a great group around me and my girlfriend, who’s grown with me on this journey and understands what the sport is and how it’s grown. She’s cut from a very similar cloth and that’s why we are not craving or chasing any attention. It often comes, but she handles it very well, and has her own projects she is working on and doing really well for herself. But without doubt, it has an impact not only on your life, but everyone who surrounds you.”

Russell is speaking to Autosport from Grand Cayman in the West Indies. He has been using his winter break for some training and downtime ahead of the new season as he prepares mentally and physically for the 24-race calendar that kicks off in Melbourne on 16 March. He is relaxed but also keen to point out that, ahead of such big rule changes in 2026, both he and his Mercedes team will be juggling their workload to ensure that while they have the best chance of winning titles in 2025, they are also the quickest off the line in 2026 with the new engine and aero regulations.

“I’m feeling great and I’m really excited for the season,” he affirms. “This time of year I always find really interesting, because there’s just so much excitement and unknown going into the season. We know the improvements that we’re bringing to the car. We don’t know what our rivals are doing but there is hope ahead of the new season.

"This is the beginning. Whether that means we’re going to fight for a championship this year, I really couldn’t tell you. But the same way as in 2013 that was the beginning of something new at Mercedes" George Russell

“This year has been slightly different in regard that we are also looking towards 2026. You’re usually developing the following year’s car from around July onwards. But this is very new in the sense that we’re talking a lot about the 2026 car already. We’re already discussing the power unit, the fuel, as well as development for this year. So there’s three programmes ongoing. We didn’t really talk about the engine development so much before because it was just an evolution, whereas now it’s a huge factor. Then there are two for the cars; for 2025 and one for 2026, which are just so important, so I’ve been finding that quite exciting.”

Mercedes announced that it would not be conducting its usual Silverstone shakedown ahead of the new season. Instead, it will fly the W16 to Bahrain for the pre-season test, where the car will get its first run on track. Russell says it would be wrong to “read too much into it” when asked whether this was a confident flex from the Silver Arrows, but said that there is a belief and trust in their hard work, while pointing out how the British weather had been rather unkind to testing plans in the past.

“We’ve launched for the last few seasons in Silverstone and you have to be very fortunate with the weather,” he recognises. “We had quite a bad experience one year with tremendous winds that didn’t allow us to learn anything whatsoever. It was unfortunate because Red Bull were driving the track the day before we were launching and they had bright blue skies and sunshine. When you get the right conditions, you learn about the aero whereas in our last three seasons now, I am not even sure we got to use the slick tyres. So it was a day that we took nothing from.

Mercedes heads straight to Bahrain to launch its W16 rather than its more familiar Silverstone shakedown before testing

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

“We just felt we’re confident in the car build. We’re confident we don’t need to drive on a circuit that is 10 minutes from our base just in case there’s any issues. We’re confident that we can take it straight to Bahrain and get some proper running on that very first day of driving and at least learn something.”

So is this the start of a Mercedes revival then, led by Russell himself?

“I would definitely say this is the beginning,” he says with a smile. “Whether that means we’re going to fight for a championship this year, I really couldn’t tell you. But the same way as in 2013 that was the beginning of something new at Mercedes.

“What we have been through in the last 12 months, there has been a lot of change and a lot of restructuring within. In 2022, we were so focused on the performance and trying to recognise why it wasn’t working, we didn’t have time to take a step back and look at the organisation. It was during 2023 when James Allison returned, that’s when we’ve been starting to really dig into the organisation of the team. We’ve got an incredible woman in Jayne Poole, who’s spearheading the organisation and making sure we’ve got the right individuals in the right areas, and that takes time, so I think this is the start of something new.”

One brand-new aspect is the promotion of Antonelli. While the 18-year-old Italian has been part of the Mercedes junior team since April 2019 and is no stranger, Russell will help play a role in his development, particularly helping with off-track elements.

“I don’t think he needs any help on the driving side,” reckons Russell. “It’s relatively linear from F4, F3 and F2 then a slightly steeper step to F1, but what we do is racing, so that step is nothing really to be worried about. What isn’t linear at all is the spotlight being upon you. When you compare it with a football player or a tennis player, you start off when you’re 15, 16 or 17 and are a bit in the shadows. Then you might get a game or come off the bench. You might not play the next game but you’ve got a taste of it and you grow into it.

“In F1, you don’t have time to grow into anything. You’re not even on the bench when you’re in F2, you are essentially thrown into the starting line-up – and as the main player. I’ve already said to Kimi, if there is any advice, anything he needs, I’m always there and more than happy to help because it’s… it’s a huge change.”

Russell feels Antonelli needs no help on the driving side but has offered support with off-track matters

Photo by: Getty Images

As we conclude our conversation, Russell is asked what he is looking forward to most about 2025. His response is telling, and is one that does little to extinguish the narrative that Mercedes is feeling quietly confident. It’s noted that his mood is such, but he rejects the suggestion that Mercedes could be one of the favourites for the title.

“We’re not favourites,” he reasons. “McLaren are for sure. Momentum is with them, Ferrari are equally likely to be strong. Realistically, I expect those two to probably be the favourites and Red Bull just behind. It will be interesting to see if that gap continues like we saw at the end of last year. But right now, the thing I’m most looking forward to is those first five laps of driving the car, because I will know within five laps if this car has a chance of fighting for a championship or not.

“That’s probably the most anxious time of the whole season for me, when I’m 10 minutes before the first practice session, because those five laps are going to give you the answers of the season. Even now it’s actually giving me goosebumps talking about it! I just can’t wait to get driving again.”

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Photo by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Images