George Russell’s Mercedes future has left Martin Brundle “quite worried” after speculation over Max Verstappen’s future.
The Formula 1 world champion’s recent struggles with Red Bull have sparked talk of a move away, with Mercedes linked due to Toto Wolff’s history with the Dutch driver.
Red Bull struggled at the Bahrain International Circuit with a brake issue, which resulted in a sixth-place finish and the 27-year-old declared “nothing went well”.
Helmut Marko failed to dampen speculation when admitting there is “concern is great” about his future amid talk of an escape clause in his contract.
Wolff spurned a chance to sign the four-time champion back in 2014 before his move to Red Bull and Brundle is adamant the Mercedes chief would not fail a second time should he become available, which could leave Russell’s future in doubt due to Kimi Antonelli’s potential.
“I think if Max Verstappen sprung into the marketplace, I would be quite worried for George, actually, because Kimi is obviously their man for the future,” Brundle said on Sky Sports.
“So there’s a lot of ifs in there. George is doing a great job for him as team leader, but Toto missed Max once, I don’t think that he’ll miss him a second time should he get the opportunity.”
While Marko underlined the need to provide Verstappen with a competitive car to challenge Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in the McLaren.
“The concern is great,” he said. “As I said, improvements have to come in the near future so that he has a car with which he can win again. We have to create a basis with a car so that he can fight for the World Championship.
“It’s clear. We must make progress that is not expressed in points, but on the stopwatch. With such a performance, it won’t be anything to do with the World Championship.”
