George Russell And Mercedes Received Many Calls From Other Racers Following Empty Seats In 2025

George Russell has received many calls and messages from other riders since the team's seats fell in 2025. (photo: x @bulryRussell63)

JAKARTA - George Russell revealed that he and Mercedes had received many calls and messages from other riders since the seats in the team fell in 2025. This happened following Lewis Hamilton's decision to move to Ferrari.

The world of F1 was shocked in early February when it was confirmed that Hamilton would join Scuderia next season, which ended a decade-long partnership with Mercedes. Although Hamilton had previously signed a contract extension to stay with the team until the end of 2025, the seven-time F! champion activated the release option that allowed him to move.

Various names have been speculated as potential candidates for Hamilton's vacant seat, but Russell is not worried about who will eventually join him in the squad.

"It's going to be some interesting months to see what's going on," Russell said. "But from my side, I've been team-mates with the greatest racer of all time over the last two years, and I'm not worried at all who's going to be next to me. I want to be tested against the best and I feel like that's what I've got these last two years.

When asked how much it affects the race decision, Russell replied: I think for each team it is important to have good harmony between the riders, because it seeps into all the engineers, and the whole team, but in the end the decision rests with Toto [Wolf] and the council.

"We've had a lot of conversations and I've been with Toto a lot of opportunities this winter, so seeing the names of the racers appearing on the phone is quite funny and even on my phone too, I've received several phone calls and text messages," he said.

"So it's quite interesting, but as a team, we are in a very good opportunity and position to enter this new chapter, [after] so much success with Lewis and Mercedes," added Russel.

Speculation about who Russell can be Russell's teammate at Mercedes has seen various names thrown into the mix, from young drivers on the rise to those who can bring more experience.

Russell also recently explained that he would have no problems with Max Verstappen joining the team after rumors linking the Dutch racer to a future move to the Silver Arrows.