George Russell receives critical advice if Max Verstappen joins Mercedes

George Russell has been urged to "work hard" to beat Max Verstappen, should the pair form Mercedes' driver line-up in 2025.

Mercedes is openly courting Verstappen for 2026, with Russell currently out of contract for next season, as if current team-mate Kimi Antonelli.

Russell is adamant that he will still be a Mercedes driver in 2026, and does not have any firm deadline for when he needs to know what his future plans are.

In the three seasons he spent as Lewis Hamilton's team-mate, Russell out-qualified and out-raced Hamilton, picking up three wins to Hamilton's one, although Hamilton did out-score him in points by 697 to 695. 

However, 1992 world champion Nigel Mansell believes that if Russell is partnered with a second world champion in Verstappen, he must continue to follow the example he set with Hamilton.

"What I can say to George and to Lando and all these drivers is that I drove with four world champions, I joined the team when the men in the other car were World Champions - Mario Andretti, Nelson Piquet, Keke Rosberg, and Alain Prost," Mansell told AceOdds. 

“When you join a team with a World Champion already there, they are not your best friend, and if you start to go quicker than them, don't expect them to be your best friend.

“You’re the No. 2 driver, and they hate being beaten; that’s why they are World Champions.

“So I had the toughest career in some ways, because I was always the underdog, but as I demonstrated, if you work hard enough, you can beat them and make yourself a name.

"But it is definitely not easy, George acquitted himself last year, and I think he's done a fabulous job."