F1: Red Bull Will Consider Russell If Mercedes Don't

Red Bull's Helmut Marko has said that it will consider the Mercedes junior George Russell if he doesn't get bumped up to the main team next year alongside Lewis Hamilton. This comes after some stellar performances by Red Bull's new driver Sergio Perez who has done a great job wing manning Max Verstappen who leads the F1 world championship by over 30 points from Lewis Hamilton. In case, the Briton is signed by the Mercedes team, he will replace Valtteri Bottas whom Hamilton has described as the "best teammate" he's ever had. 

"Russell is certainly worth considering with the performances he is now showing at Williams," he told motorsport-total.com. "That is so utopian. If Mercedes let him go, that would be such a faux pas that I honestly can't imagine it," the Austrian added.

George Russell has been dubbed a future world champion by many including Fernando Alonso 
Photo Credit: AFP

While Perez just has a one-year contract, he has already won a race in Baku when Verstappen crashed out. He is widely tipped to be alongside Verstappen even in 2022. This would likely mean that Red Bull will be able to offer the Mercedes junior, a seat at AlphaTauri, who is currently tottering at the back of the grid in the Williams. 

AlphaTauri is the Red Bull junior team that features drivers from its own academy like Pierre Gasly who once partnered with Verstappen at Red Bull in 2019 and Japanese sensation Yuki Tsunoda. Gasly has been unhappy with Red Bull's demotion of him in 2019 but since then he won in Monza in 2020 and has consistently been the team leader. He remains disgruntled of his treatment by Marko and could possibly leave the team if he gets a better deal. 

Tsunoda who was initially dubbed as a future world champion has had an erratic season and if things continue in the erratic fashion Russell could be potentially accommodated to replace him. Though for Russell this may not be ideal as he would probably want a seat at the main Red Bull team. 

Yuki Tsunoda has had a harder time than many imagined in his debut F1 year

Ever since the Sakhir GP in 2020, when Russell got a chance to drive the Mercedes W11 replacing Lewis Hamilton when he was down with COVID-19, he has expressed a desire to be in the Mercedes team. 

"Everyone wants to go up against the best driver. Everyone believes in themselves, but for me, I'd love that challenge because the pressure would be off and I'd find myself in a win-win scenario," he said recently in an interview. 

"I'd go in with that mentality if I ever found myself up against one of the best drivers of all time. You have got nothing to lose - which I think is great really. That is the sort of situation that Sergio Perez finds himself in at the moment. He's got no pressure because he's got nothing to lose - and so you go out there and enjoy it, and show them what you can do," he added.