Former F1 winner argues George Russell could be 'as good as' Max Verstappen in staggering claim

Juan Pablo Montoya has suggested George Russell could be "just as good as" Max Verstappen in the future, with the four-time F1 drivers' champion closely linked to his Mercedes seat.

The British driver is in the midst of agreeing a new contract with the Brackley-based squad, but the process is taking longer than anticipated, despite the 27-year-old being one of the stand-out performers in F1 this season.

Part of the delay was caused by Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff's pursuit of Verstappen, who ultimately decided to stay put at Red Bull for the time being.

But the potential to lure the Dutchman away from the Laurent Mekies-led team remains, especially with the dawn of a new F1 era on the horizon.

And it is making the eight-time constructors' champions unwilling to sign Russell to the long-term deal he desires — although Wolff has previously stated that multi-year deals have seldom been Mercedes' approach.

However, Montoya does not believe the Silver Arrows "need" Verstappen, given the level of performance Russell has reached of late.

Speaking on the podcast MontoyAS, the seven-time grand prix winner said: "I don't know what Toto is thinking, but what George is showing is that they don't need Max because they've already got someone.

"They've got Russell, who could be just as good as Max in the future. So all this is really showing is — he's basically saying, 'yes, we need to secure someone for the future. This is the person.'"

Russell's young team-mate Kimi Antonelli is highly regarded at Mercedes and viewed as the future of the team, meaning that to poach Verstappen from Red Bull, he would likely be the driver to make way.

But Montoya feels that Russell, who recently took his fifth grand prix victory in superb fashion in Singapore, is doing enough to force Wolff's hand.

"And the way he's performing, he's forcing Mercedes' hand to the point where they'll have to say, 'whatever he wants, we’re going to have to give it to him'," he added.

"He's won two races this year with a car that, in theory, wasn't capable of winning."