George Russell admits Mercedes support has changed since Max Verstappen put him 'at risk'

George Russell has changed his tune and admitted the constant speculation over his future in recent months has been tough to take. And the Brit even went as far as to suggest he has not felt as supported by his Mercedes team amid their public pursuit of Max Verstappen.

The Silver Arrows have been trying to convince the Dutchman to quit Red Bull and join them in 2026. It was only on Thursday that Verstappen finally put that rumour to bed and said outright that he intends to stick with his current team next year.

But up to that point, the saga cast a shadow over Russell's future with Mercedes. The Brit has been affiliated with the team since long before he graduated into F1 and is even managed by the team, but contract renewal talks stalled for months and only seem to have started moving again since it became clear that Verstappen was not going to join.

Russell has been bullish about his future in public, whenever asked what he thinks of the whole situation. But now it is close to being resolved, the 27-year-old has, for the first time, admitted how it felt to know he was "at risk".

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The Brit said: "For my whole career until last year, the team have supported me so much and given me such amazing opportunities – and our goals have been aligned, and what has been in the best interest of the team has also been in the best interest of me.

"Now, of course, these last six months have been a very unique situation where I don't have a huge power in that sort of agreement, and maybe the interests were not aligned for some time. Which has, of course, put me at risk for these last six months. Then it was my job to perform and reduce that risk."

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Russell is now clear to put pen to paper on a contract extension, now that Toto Wolff has admitted defeat in his quest to sign Verstappen for 2026. The Brit is expected to become one of the most highly-paid drivers on the grid with reports suggesting he could make £30million per year in salary alone.

But the saga has raised questions over whether Russell's arrangement regarding his personal management is a sustainable one. Posed that question ahead of this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix, he gave the air of someone who, despite the events of the last few months, still believes Mercedes can look after his best interests.

He replied: "I don't know, to be honest. I don't wish for it to come to anything like that. I still trust Toto and I still trust in the team that they will always support me as long as I am performing, so that's what I need to focus on.

"But of course, for both Kimi [Antonelli, Russell's teenage team-mate who is also out of contract at the end of the year as it stands] and I, these past months have not been the most assuring for our future – and that's just been a bit conflicting."