'Red Bull opens the door for Verstappen exit' as Russell pushes for Mercedes answer
According to recent reports Red Bull Racing will not stand in Max Verstappen's way should he seek pastures new. George Russell, on his part, has stated he expects answer from Mercedes shortly.
As per F1 Insider's report Red Bull Racing would not put up a fight should Verstappen choose to leave the Austrian team. It is understood that the German news outlet has close relations with Red Bull chief advisor Helmut Marko, giving the report a heftier relevance.
The team Max Verstappen's future is currently linked to the most is Mercedes. However, as GPlog reported just last week, the Dutchman's inclination is to stay at 'home' with Red Bull, but the 4-time world champion's future won't be clarified until F1 has entered the summer break following the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The Dutchman's decision falls on two things, a better working environment, which it is understood was not the case at Red Bull in recent times. With Christian Horner's departure the first condition seems to have been met.
The team's ability to find their way in what relates to the development of the car then comes in as the second deciding factor, which is as of yet to be met.
Come next year, F1 is debuting a set of regulation changes that will revolutionise the sport. Mercedes is rumoured to be ahead of all other engine manufacturers, a list to which Red Bull - in collaboration with Ford - will add their name to.
Historically, new manufacturers don't do well in their first years in the sport, whether that will be the case for Red Bull, top advisor Helmut Marko so far believes it is too early to judge.
Russell expects an answer from Mercedes soon
Speaking during the Silverstone Grand Prix weekend, Russell when asked if there was a deadline in which he expected Mercedes and him to agree on the terms of the anticipated contract renewal, he expressed faith in the team.
"There’s not really any deadline in place, to be honest. Obviously, naturally, you try and have stuff done before the summer break. From my side, Mercedes manage me as well, so it’s not really a deadline in my hands as such. So, yeah, not really."
Furthermore the driver of the Mercedes #63 car hinted at the lack of statements surrounding his contract renewal as meaning talks were intensifying.
Nevertheless, he did give a timeline as to when he epected everything to be signed off, and it was not long into the summer break.
"I’m not even thinking about it right now. Obviously, there’s a lot of questions about it. But the more we speak, the less we speak about it, nothing really changes."
"It’ll happen when the time is right. I expect probably in the next couple of weeks, probably something to happen. But, yeah, we’ll need to wait and see," he concluded.
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