{"id":265267,"date":"2025-07-14T21:36:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-14T21:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/265267\/"},"modified":"2025-07-14T21:36:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T21:36:11","slug":"george-russell-to-aston-martin-response-issued-amid-max-verstappen-rumours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/265267\/","title":{"rendered":"George Russell to Aston Martin? Response issued amid Max Verstappen rumours"},"content":{"rendered":"

George Russell could yet come on the market for F1 2026, but Aston Martin are enjoying the \u201cstability\u201d of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll.<\/strong><\/p>\n

With both drivers signed-up for F1 2026, team boss Andy Cowell spoke of the positive effect which this is having on their preparations for F1\u2019s new era \u2013 Aston Martin a team to watch \u2013 potentially closing an avenue for\u00a0Russell<\/a>, who is looking to secure his future on the grid.<\/p>\n

George Russell: Aston Martin out as a Plan B?<\/p>\n

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher<\/p>\n

While Russell rated the chances that he is not a Mercedes driver in F1 2026 as \u201cexceptionally low<\/a>\u201c, he is yet to receive a new contract to secure his seat beyond the current season, as speculation continues to swirl that Verstappen could swap Red Bull for Mercedes.<\/p>\n

Formula 1 is approaching a huge shift in the regulations, with new cars and power units on the way for F1 2026, creating a great deal of intrigue around Mercedes, considering how they went on a run of eight Constructors\u2019 Championship wins the last time the engine formula changed.<\/p>\n

Red Bull meanwhile will become an engine manufacturer for the first time \u2013 Red Bull Powertrains working alongside Ford \u2013 though Russell sparked rumours that Verstappen may not be there to experience it, having suggested \u201congoing\u201d talks between Verstappen and Mercedes were complicating his path to a new deal.<\/p>\n

Should Russell find himself without a Mercedes seat for F1 2026, Aston Martin has been speculated as a potential suitor for his services, rumours which were put to team boss Andy Cowell at the British Grand Prix.<\/p>\n

His response was to wax lyrical about how the \u201cstability\u201d of having Alonso and Stroll contracted for next season is boosting preparations.<\/p>\n

Aston Martin begins its engine partnership with Honda from next season, while Adrian Newey \u2013 the F1 design legend who arrived in March after leaving Red Bull \u2013 has been hard at work designing the 2026 Aston Martin.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re super fortunate. We\u2019ve got this exciting run into \u201926,\u201d said Cowell.<\/p>\n

\u201cChanging the power unit \u2013 we\u2019re working with Honda on that \u2013 changing the aerodynamics, we\u2019ve got Adrian [Newey] working on that, we\u2019ve got new facilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the stability that we\u2019ve got in having Lance and Fernando signed up for next year means that they\u2019re not only helping us now develop the tools that we\u2019re using for \u201926, \u201927 and beyond, but they\u2019re working directly on the concept of the car.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe discussions in the wind tunnel are about the aerodynamic shape, but they\u2019re also about driver environment. How much space is there in the cockpit? Adrian tends not to leave much space in the cockpit. Everything\u2019s exceptionally tight. But that stability of having two drivers signed up through into \u201926 is really helping us.\u201d<\/p>\n

More on F1 2026 from PlanetF1.com<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc49 F1 2026 driver line-up: Who is already confirmed for the 2026 grid?<\/a><\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc49 F1 2026: Confirmed teams and power unit suppliers for F1\u2019s huge regulation changes<\/a><\/p>\n

If a Mercedes driver did ultimately make way for Verstappen, it is not guaranteed to be Russell, with teenage rookie Kimi Antonelli also not yet contracted beyond F1 2025.<\/p>\n

Antonelli admits that there is plenty happening behind the scenes, and can only put his best foot forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, there\u2019s a lot going on, but I\u2019m sure that the team is doing their best to provide the best for the future,\u201d Antonelli told the media, including PlanetF1.com.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re not looking only for next year, but they\u2019re looking as well for the future. So obviously there\u2019s a lot going on, but a lot of talks, but my goal is just to try and do my best, no matter what.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cI got this opportunity from Mercedes and there\u2019s no talks with anyone else going on.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very happy where I am, and I\u2019m also quite sure with the team and also what they want from me.<\/p>\n

\u201cI need to just do my best, minimise all the mistakes and then try to deliver the best job possible. I know the team has a lot of trust in me, and so I\u2019m not really worried.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read next: A slip of the tongue or is Max Verstappen \u2018with\u2019 Mercedes in F1 2026?<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"George Russell could yet come on the market for F1 2026, but Aston Martin are enjoying the \u201cstability\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":265268,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4103],"tags":[1837,4199,707,4200,9824,225,4859,12,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-265267","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-f1","8":"tag-aston-martin","9":"tag-f1","10":"tag-formula-1","11":"tag-formula1","12":"tag-george-russell","13":"tag-home-page","14":"tag-mercedes","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114853746059677000","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265267"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265267\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}