Former F1 team owner Eddie Jordan believes that George Russell will not want Carlos Sainz as his next Mercedes team-mate. The Ferrari star is reportedly in talks with Toto Wolff regarding a switch to Brackley in 2025, although a deal is far from completion.
Sainz was left without a drive for 2025 when Lewis Hamilton’s sensational switch was confirmed in February, but the Spaniard has started the 2024 campaign in style, winning in Melbourne and securing P3 finishes in his other two starts to put his name firmly in the shop window.
One team that has taken notice is Mercedes, who themselves are in need of a new driver off the back of Hamilton’s move. According to a report from RacingNews365, Wolff and Sainz are already engaged in contract talks over a one-year deal with an optional second.
However, Jordan doesn’t believe that this will go down well with their incumbent driver, Russell. “Toto is hard to pin down and he plays a very good poker hand,” he said on the Formula For Success podcast.
“I think [Kimi] Antonelli is probably one of the favourites there. Carlos Sainz would be a great addition, there’s absolutely no doubt about that. Toto has to be careful because he manages George Russell.
“For sure, George Russell will not want Carlos Sainz in that car and it’s not his decision to do that, but I just feel that there’ll be enough pressure put on Toto to make the situation in favour of the young up-and-coming driver.”
While Russell may not be keen to face off against one of the most in-form drivers on the F1 grid, the 26-year-old can take some confidence from his performances relative to seven-time world champion team-mate Hamilton.
Russell currently leads his Mercedes counterpart by 14 points in the Drivers’ Championship standings and has unqualified Hamilton on three occasions in the span of four races so far this year. This represents another positive step forward after the man from King’s Lynn finished 2023 with the qualifying head-to-head standing at 11-11.
While Jordan doesn’t believe that Russell will want to join forces with Sainz, the Mercedes ace has made it clear that he doesn’t mid. “I’m really happy and open to have anybody as my team-mate,” he said. “Whether it’s [a] world champion, whether it’s a rookie, it doesn’t change how I go about my business. And yeah, as I said, we’ll welcome anybody.”
