Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff believes a potential Max Verstappen-George Russell partnership would be "easy" after what he endured in managing Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.
Red Bull driver Verstappen has again emerged as a candidate for a seat at Mercedes following confirmation from Russell that talks between the four-time F1 champion and Wolff have delayed the Briton signing a new contract with the team.
Wolff refused to dismiss the prospect of signing Verstappen when asked about the possibility in between the two practice sessions for the Austrian Grand Prix on Friday.
If a Verstappen-Russell line-up was on the grid in 2026 it would see two drivers go head to head in the same team despite the fact they have made enemies of one another on track following numerous incidents stemming back to late last year.
Wolff, though, sees no issue in having the duo in his team, particularly after what he experienced with Hamilton and Rosberg, and the enmity that developed between the two when they were team-mates from 2013 to 2016.
"I can imagine every line-up," said Wolff, when asked if Russell and Verstappen could be Mercedes team-mates. "I had Rosberg and Hamilton fighting for a world championship. So everything else afterwards is easy.
"So, yeah, there are pros and cons of having two drivers fighting each other hard. And we've seen examples where that functions, and other examples where it didn't."
Further suggested to Wolff that Russell being made to wait for a new deal was forcing him to deliver strong results, he added: "And when it comes to the contract situation, our sport is pressure, constant pressure, whether you're in the car, outside of the car, you just need to cope with that. And George knows that, like any other driver knows it.
"I feel that when you're being put in a comfort zone, sometimes that is more detrimental to performance than having a certain pressure point in the system."
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Russell contract talks ongoing
Many questions have been directed to Wolff this season surrounding why a new deal is yet to be offered to Russell, given his impressive start to the campaign.
The Briton sits fourth in the F1 drivers' title, has claimed a victory and a further four podiums, yet is still without a seat for 2026.
When asked what more Russell must do for a new contract, Wolff answered: "Nothing. He has been part of our programme for 10 years or so. He's always performed to the expectations that we have set, and he's continuing to do so we have found.
"We haven't given him a car to win a world championship in the last three years. So that's completely on us. And the times the car has been good, he has been winning races.
"We know that when he's getting in the car, he's going to extract what is in the car. So having said that, for whatever reason, in early summer, those kinds of contract discussions start to end up being accelerated in the media, or accelerated because of a lack of information.
"Well, what I have been doing the last 30 years in a normal business, contract discussions are not being held in town halls. So everything is normal, everything goes to plan."
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