George Russell has been cautioned that his promotion to Lewis Hamilton’s job as Mercedes’ spearhead is far from inevitable as the club examines its options for 2025.
George Russell’s aspirations of becoming the top dog at Mercedes after Lewis Hamilton leaves for Ferrari could be dashed if the team takes a “radical” approach.
Hamilton upended the F1 driver market by declaring that he will drive for the iconic Italian team beginning next year, succeeding Carlos Sainz. Sainz is a possibility to replace Hamilton at Mercedes.
The young Italian, a Mercedes junior driver, makes his Formula 2 debut this season, and a solid performance might him a spot on the F1 grid in 2025. With so many choices available, the pressure is on Russell, who had a disappointing 2023 season, to prove he belongs among the sport’s best.
According to F1 analyst and journalist Mark Gallagher, the next several years will be critical for Russell. He told Betway: “Two years ago, you would have said unequivocally that George Russell would be promoted to the number one drive when Lewis left. But there seems to be a question mark there presently.
“There is other talent out there, other people available and one thing that will come from Toto Wolff is that he will be thinking about a lot of major change happening within the sport and they need to be careful about not making a conservative choice for next year.”It is more likely that they will take a drastic decision. The radical will either bring in a hot rookie, someone they will rally behind.
“They will either do that or put one of the best drivers in the car and do whatever it takes because Toto Wolff does not want to spend two or three years trying to go back to championship-winning form. He wants a driving lineup that can win championships every year.”
Pre-season testing began in Bahrain on Wednesday, with world champion Verstappen setting the pace more than a second ahead of the rest of the field.
