George Russell has maintained that his seat at Mercedes was "never under threat" after Max Verstappen re-signed with Red Bull on Thursday at Zandvoort.
Verstappen was the largest remaining domino to fall in the Formula 1 driver transfer market, with the Dutchman's future a topic of much debate across recent months. Linked to both Mercedes and McLaren, some speculation suggested Russell could have been forced from his seat should Verstappen have made a move, but Thursday morning's announcement put an end to this.
"It's only really a topic for us when you guys in the press want to ask these questions and understand what is going on," said Russell, who entered F1 through the Mercedes junior programme. "It was always very clear within Mercedes what the reality was over these past couple of years, and maybe those conversations were slightly more public than his team was having with the likes of McLaren, or Ferrari, or whoever else it may have been."
Russell added: "That's just the nature of the sport. Drivers talk with different teams, teams talk with different drivers. Everyone has to just see what their cards are, but my seat never felt under threat, and I felt 100% security with Toto and the team. That obviously now continues."
Meanwhile, at McLaren, it was Oscar Piastri's seat, not Lando Norris's, that had been speculated upon. Norris responded: "I never heard much more than you guys did. I welcome anyone to be my team-mate. Of course, a guy who has won as many world championships as he has, a guy who is as talented as him would always be cool to have as a team-mate one day, but I know Oscar is my team-mate for still quite a while yet. So I know nothing is changing."
With Verstappen staying at Red Bull, the F1 grid dynamics for 2026 are set to remain stable, at least for the next few seasons. This decision also eases the tension in the driver market that had been heating up, allowing teams to focus on car development and long-term strategies.
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