Why is George Russell the most underrated driver in F1?
The only driver whose last name is not Verstappen or drives a McLaren car that has won in F1 2025, does not have a contract for 2026
The Formula 1 has many questions, but there is one that persists throughout the 2025 season and it is about how unfair the contractual situation of George Russell in what should definitely be his best season since he arrived in the category and the question on everyone’s head is; because mercedes Still not extending Russell’s contract?
The connection with Verstappen
The interest of Toto Wolff to have Max Verstappen in his team and the possible departure of the pilot from Red Bull It gained strength at the beginning of the season, just when there was talk of Russell’s extension negotiations with Mercedes, negotiations that were stalled due to the Austrian’s recurring compliments to Verstappen, even with rumors of an ‘Ok’ from the board of directors of the Mercedes group to pay $100 million euros for the signing of the four-time champion.
It is surprising that even after Verstappen confirmed his stay with Red Bull, prior to the Belgian Grand Prix At the end of July, Mercedes has not confirmed the renewal of the British driver who this season has 2 victories and 8 podiums, keeping the Mercedes team in second position in the constructors’ championship.
Any other driver with the performance shown by Russell in 2025 would already have a secure future in the category not only for 2026, but it seems that no matter what George achieves in F1 he will always go unnoticed because…
Something always steals Russell’s thunder
Although it is not an official statistic, George Russell has the record of the driver who has found it most difficult to attract attention when he achieves something important within F1 and that directly affects the way in which his exploits are communicated by the media that cover the category, which consequently minimizes the position of the driver before the fans and probably before the Mercedes team itself.
Without going too far, we can highlight several moments in which life somehow manages to make something more “important” happen every time Russell achieves something important in F1 and gets all the attention, such as, for example:
– Belgian Grand Prix 2021: Russell found a way to classify his Williams in P2 in the slowest car on the grid at the time only for the weekend to be ruined by the race being canceled due to bad weather.
• Brazilian Grand Prix 2022: weekend of complete dominance for Russell, giving the only victory to the Mercedes W13 on the same date in which Max Verstappen He refused to return the position to Sergio Pérez, when ‘Checo’ was fighting for P2 in the drivers’ championship against Charles Leclerc.
• Austrian Grand Prix 2024: Russell’s second victory in F1, which was “inherited” thanks to the crash between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris into Turn 4, causing Norris to abandon and Verstappen to finish P5.
• Belgian Grand Prix 2024: George takes a risk and achieves the epic, by winning the race with a one-stop strategy, maintaining his position against the attack of Lewis Hamilton who had strategic superiority, only to be disqualified for violating the car’s weight regulations after the race.
• Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024: another weekend of Russell’s dominance that completes a 1-2 for Mercedes that no one took for granted, but with P5 of Max Verstappen The Dutchman’s line confirmed the fourth title.
• Canadian Grand Prix 2025: Russell manages to achieve a dominant victory in Montreal, but that race almost ended under a safety car due to Lando Norris’ accident after colliding with Oscar Piastri in the final laps.
• Singapore Grand Prix 2025: perhaps the most surprising of the British victories on a circuit where great performance was not expected from Mercedes due to the high temperatures of the circuit in Marina Bay, but the spotlight was once again taken by an incident between the McLaren drivers and the complaint about the production’s decision to give cameras to the pilots’ girlfriends just at the moments when the race had moments of action.
If the projection follows, everything indicates that, if Russell wins a Formula 1 championship, that day Christ will return for his parishioners or we will find Elvis living on an island in the Pacific.
Toto’s attitude worsens perception of Russell
The fact is that Toto Wolff, who is supposed to manage George’s career and is the person who has access to all the performance data and who has seen Russell’s progress as a driver since joining the Mercedes academy, is believed to be waiting for Verstappen and, according to rumours, Charles Leclerc. That doesn’t do George’s profile any favors as he is definitely considered a driver on par with Max and Charles.
Mercedes is expected to have the best power unit starting in 2026, which will be an advantage for the drivers of the silver dates and with a driver with Russell’s talent, the need to go for Verstappen for a regulation where the engine will have a greater role is redundant and could even raise doubts about the supposed superiority of the Brackley team’s power unit.
What there is no doubt is that on the Formula 1 grid, George Russell is definitely the most underrated of the drivers and although we have explained possible reasons, the reality is that no one understands why.
