George Russell has revealed that the persistent Max Verstappen to Mercedes rumors don’t bother him became if he was a team principal he would be doing the same thing. The rumors first began last season when Verstappen’s relationship with Red Bull was not at its best.

Christian Horner was often at odds with Jos Verstappen and the war of words in front of the media made it clear that things were not good. At the time, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff had reportedly first held discussions with the Dutch driver.

Max Verstappen didn’t want make the jump eventually as the talks died down and then we had Kimi Antonelli being announced as a Mercedes driver. This season the German team has Antonelli and Russell in the team with both drivers’ contracts expiring at the end of the season. This has led to speculations that Mercedes could let go of George Russell if Verstappen were to say yes.

Coming into the weekend, there were reports that Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has still been pursuing Max Verstappen. When the question to George Russell was first put up on whether this was somewhat disrespectful, the Brit felt that he would have done the same thing. He told Mundo Deportivo:

“The truth is, no. No, because the fact is, there are two seats in a Formula 1 team. And I’ve already said I’d be happy to be Verstappen’s team-mate. “But the fact is: why wouldn’t a team want Verstappen? If I were Toto, and you had two choices… If you could have any driver and all the drivers were available, I would choose myself and I would choose Verstappen – if I were in Toto’s shoes.”

Every top team will have Max Verstappen as the first choice – George Russell

George Russell further explained that it’s not just a case with Mercedes or Toto Wolff, but every top team in F1 would want Max Verstappen to join them. Be it Ferrari, McLaren, or anybody else, the Dutch driver is the first one that they’d love to have. He said:

“So I don’t see it as disrespectful. That’s how the sport goes. And Ferrari, if I could choose, would choose Verstappen and Leclerc. McLaren would probably choose Verstappen and… here it would perhaps be more challenging: Norris or Piastri. But if by 2026, every team could choose its drivers, Verstappen would be the number one choice for every team. So it’s not disrespectful, it’s just the reality.”

If reports are to be believed, then Max Verstappen has more or less made up his mind on where his future lies. The Dutch driver will be at Red Bull for 2026, but beyond that is anybody’s guess right now. If the car is strong, he might continue, but if it isn’t, he could branch out and move to some other team.