Russell amused by drivers contacting him, Wolff over Mercedes seat

George Russell says he has had drivers contacting him as well as team boss Toto Wolff in relation to the vacant Mercedes seat that will be left by Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton is joining Ferrari in 2025, bringing to an end his 12-year stint with Mercedes and leaving one of the most competitive seats on the grid available. With multiple drivers also out of contract at the end of this season, Russell says he’s willing to be paired with anyone and has been receiving calls and messages himself as well as his team principal.

“It’s going to be an interesting few months to see what happens,” Russell said. “From my side, I’ve been teammates with arguably the greatest driver of all time for the past two years, and I’ve got no concerns at all who lines up alongside me. I want to be tested against the very best.

“I feel that’s what I’ve had the last two years. Whether it’s an experience driver or a young driver, I feel that personally I’m in a great position to help push the team forward and go into this next chapter for the team.

“I think for any team, it’s good to have harmony between the drivers, because that trickles down to all of the engineers and the whole team. But ultimately the decision is with Toto and the board.

“We’ve already had conversations -- I’ve been with Toto a lot this winter, so seeing the drivers’ names pop up on the telephone is quite funny; and even on my phone as well, had quite a few phone calls and text messages.

“It’s been quite interesting. But as a team, we’re in a really good opportunity and position to go into this next chapter, to have so much success with Lewis and Mercedes, and [go] onto the next.”

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Whoever joins Russell is likely to still be chasing Red Bull according to the 26-year-old, saying Red Bull is “100%” the favorite even after just one day of pre-season testing.

“It (the W15) does feel a step in the right direction, but there’s no hiding that our competitors have also done a really great job. We know we had a mountain to climb with the performance Red Bull showed last year, for anybody to overcome that gap was a huge test. Definitely the car is feeling nicer to drive, but ultimately it’s down to the lap times.

“We still haven’t seen truly yet where everybody is falling out. But Red Bull seem to have done a really great job again, and they’re no doubt favorites.”