Red Bull hoping for F1 title race boost when George Russell joins Mercedes

Russell could be a title challenger next season which may aid Max Verstappen’s championship defence

George Russell joining Mercedes and his potential impressive driving pace will benefit Red Bull, says chief Helmut Marko.

Russell is replacing Valtteri Bottas as Lewis Hamilton’s team-mate for the 2022 season. The 23-year-old could dilute Hamilton’s title chances if he is as fast which will aid Max Verstappen in defending the title he won earlier this month.

“I first have to see how fast Russell really is,” Marko told Gazzetta dello Sport. “In qualifying, he was fast last season. But in the races, he was hardly superior to Nicholas Latifi. So we have to wait and see how fast he will be in the race.

“If he can indeed match Hamilton’s speed, that could be an advantage for us.”

Hamilton, who was recently knighted, missed out on his chance to claim a record eighth world title earlier this month in controversial circumstances. He was leading the final race of the season but a crash meant a safety car came out. Race director Michael Masi restarted the race with a lap to go and allowed some cars to unlap themselves meaning Verstappen was just behind him.

The Dutchman had the pace to overtake Hamilton and keep the lead to claim his first title.

Hamilton will be aware of the threat his own teammate poses to his title chances and words from Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff won’t have reassured the star.

Wolff told Motorsport-total.com: “Russell has to consolidate the proof he can deliver top performances like in Bahrain 2020 on a regular basis to qualify for a championship.

“That could also happen in the first year and would be a luxury problem that we would then have to solve.”

And Russell himself has his eyes on the coveted trophy, saying: “I feel ready to fight for World Championships and win races.”