George Russell's teammate for 2025?

[Supersam83]

With the shock news that Lewis Hamilton is joining Ferrari for 2025 the other big question is who will line up alongside George Russell at Mercedes for 2025?

[n3il123]

Alex albon is out of contract and there are no other top drives free at the moment, well maybe the 2nd redbull but can't see him wanting to repeat that experience!

[Supersam83]

Also, Carlos Sainz could do a swap.

Who do Mercedes have on their junior team books?

[Castellet]

Supersam83 said:

Who do Mercedes have on their junior team books?

Doriane Pin ?

[the-norseman]

Arent a lot of the grid out of contract at the end of this season?

Fernando hasn't been at Merc yet!

[Muzzer79]

Supersam83 said:

Who do Mercedes have on their junior team books?

Kimi Antonelli is rated by some as the hottest junior prospect in single seaters and is on Mercedes' books

But he's only 17 and is about to start his first season in F2.

That'll need to be some kind of debut season to get him the seat.


Then there is obviously Schumacher Jnr, but I can't see sponsors, etc being comfortable with a 7 time WDC leaving and his replacement being a guy who couldn't cut it at Haas......

They still manage Ocon......

[ettore]

Albon or Sainz

[Bo_apex]

ettore said:

Albon or Sainz

99%

[sortedcossie]

Merc to buy Piastri out of contract.

[Muzzer79]

Problem is there's a lack of proven winners.

Albon is good, but unknown how good.

Looking at the proven race winners can pick from (never mind WDC's, of which there is only 2 options):


Hamilton - leaving
Verstappen - no chance
Alonso - surely not
Bottas - that ship has sailed
Ricciardo - still in rebuilding mode
Perez - no thank you
LeClerc - committed to Ferrari
Sainz - only won 2 races
Gasly - his one win was......fortunate
Ocon - see above
Russell - already at Merc.

Given that it'll need to be someone to develop, I'd have gone with Norris but he has just extended with McLaren.....

[the-norseman]

I was hoping Norris was going to Ferrari, but could LH leaving Mercedes be the start of the winding down of the team? could we see the team sold on and become a "customer" of Mercedes in the future.

[Muzzer79]

the-norseman said:

I was hoping Norris was going to Ferrari, but could LH leaving Mercedes be the start of the winding down of the team? could we see the team sold on and become a "customer" of Mercedes in the future.

Don't forget that Mercedes only own a third of the team - the other 2 parts are split between Wolff and Ineos.

With the value of the team being so high it makes financial sense for Mercedes to slide out, but Wolff and Allison have just signed new contracts and Mercedes have committed to the new engine and rules setup from 2026.

Given a lot of manufacturers are looking to get in to F1 (Ford, Audi, GM, etc) it would be counter-intuitive for Mercedes to step out, just because one of their drivers is leaving.

[matrignano]

Supersam83 said:

Also, Carlos Sainz could do a swap.

Who do Mercedes have on their junior team books?

Ocon and Albon are both affiliated with Merc or Toto, aren't they?

I reckon Albon will be given a shot

[Bradgate]

I’m a big admirer of Sainz, but I think they will go for Albon. He has taken Williams as far as he can, and has nothing left to prove. He’s ready for the move to a top team, he’s close friends with Russell so no risk of conflict there, and he’s available.

Why wouldn’t Toto sign him?

[spikyone]

Albon maybe, though I don't agree that he has nothing to prove as he's only done better than Nicholas Latifi and Logan Sargeant in the last couple of years. Neither of them are a useful benchmark. He came across as a bit of a wet lettuce at RB ("they race me so hard...") so he'll need to show he's toughened up. Easy to look good at a lower team but the likes of Perez prove how wrong it can go if your head's in the wrong place at a top team.

I like the idea of Alonso. He's still got the fight in him, he's still capable of doing great things if the car is there and he'd bite Toto's arm off if there's a sniff of an opportunity to go there. Merc are more likely to win races than AM for the foreseeable and he doesn't have time on his side. From Merc's perspective, he makes far more sense than Albon commercially and as a driver that they'd have no doubt is top-flight.

[HTP99]

It'll be interesting at Mercedes as at this stage I don't think Russell is good enough to take them forward and to lead the team, I've always thought this since he has been driving for them and have often wondered what Mercedes will do once Hamilton leaves, having said that I have read that Russell has struggled privately being up against Hamilton, perhaps with Hamilton not being there, Russell will relax a bit more and step up.

[TikTak]

Should have done a poll!

Another one for Albon here, especially if he has a good season.

Outside and sneaky shot for Lawson too.

[Bradgate]

Whack!
Ouch!
Whack!
Ouch!

That sound you can hear is Lando Norris kicking himself for signing a new contract with McLaren last week…

[Ancient Wheelbarrow]

What an amazing long term turnaround that'll be for Albon if he does get the seat (fully deserved, in my opinion).

He's ongoing proof that the second RB seat is utterly toxic.

[8Ace]

sortedcossie said:

Merc to buy Piastri out of contract.

I mean, this is unlikely (and I agree with most folk that Albon is most likely), but Piastri to Merc would be brilliant fun