Opinion: could Antonelli crashing into Verstappen end... Russell's Mercedes career?

Yep, you read that right: when Kimi Antonelli speared into the back of Max Verstappen yesterday – ending their Austrian Grand Prix after just three corners – no one should’ve been fretting about it more than George Russell in the other Mercedes.

Let’s rewind the tape. Before the race weekend George dropped a bit of a bombshell on Sky Sports, telling Karun Chandhok the reason he was still waiting on a contract for 2026 was that Merc are trying to lure Max away from Red Bull.

“If you’re going to be back on top, you need to make sure you’ve got the best drivers,” he explained. “So it’s only normal conversations with the likes of Verstappen are ongoing.”

Mic. Drop. Well not really, because Verstappen has been linked to a Silver Arrows switch for a while now. But Russell’s un-subtle choice of words meant team boss Toto Wolff had to talk about it in more detail than he would’ve liked to in the hours that followed. Awkward.

Russell and Max famously… don’t get along. The pair shared some choice words after colliding in Baku two years ago, and relations only got worse when the four-time champ claimed he’d lost respect for Russell for the way he’d behaved in a stewards meeting in Qatar.

Russell hit back calling Verstappen “a bully”, and at the traditional end-of-season-drivers’-dinner there was a tense moment when the Briton picked up the last empty chair next to the Dutchman and… no he didn’t lamp him over the head with it. He moved it and sat elsewhere. Without saying a word. Still though… eep.

And just a few short weeks ago, Max appeared to deliberately drive into George at the Spanish GP, leaving him just one penalty point away from a race ban.

None of this is a recipe for chummy teammates. So you’ve got to imagine that if Mercedes do somehow convince Verstappen to join next season, Russell would be the one getting his P45. Even though his Canada GP win, five podiums and all-round brilliance has largely put his rookie teammate in the shade. F1 is weird.

So, how might Verstappen wriggle out of his contract at Red Bull? He’s supposedly tied down until the end of 2028, but earlier this year Red Bull motorsport advisor and long-time Verstappen ally Helmut Marko hinted that a performance clause could allow him to break free.

The rumour – and this is the crucial bit – is that the clause will be activated if Max is lower than third in the drivers’ championship by the summer break. That’s just three races away, after the British, Belgian and Hungarian Grands Prix.

Verstappen is currently third in the standings, and the driver most likely to catch him? Yup, it just had to be a Mr G Russell of Kings Lynn, now only nine points behind following the Dutchman’s DNF this weekend.

All we’re saying is… if Russell does overhaul Verstappen before F1 shuts down for August, it’ll probably be in no small part thanks to Max’s only retirement of 2025 so far.

And then the course of history will be set: Max moves to Merc for 2026, the team monsters the new V6 hybrid engine regs and the Dutchman reels off another four titles before retiring to a life of sim racing as the undisputed GOAT.

You heard it here first. And possibly last.