Russell drops ‘Team Verstappen’ quip in Mercedes vs Ferrari update

George Russell is finding it hard to read how the Mercedes versus Ferrari battle will play out with a Constructors’ Championship runner-up result up for grabs.

This could become a three-way fight, as ‘Team Verstappen’ has appeared on Russell’s radar after back-to-back wins. As Max Verstappen tried to clarify, Russell was of course talking (jokingly) about Red Bull, the team back in with a shout of finishing second.

George Russell senses ‘Team Verstappen’ (Red Bull) threat

While McLaren were unable to secure the Constructors’ crown at the first time of asking in Baku, the realisation of that achievement is only a matter of time. Their lead stands at 333 points.

Which team will finish second, though, is far less clear. After Russell claimed P2 at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, and Antonelli fourth around the Baku City Circuit, Mercedes moved up to second, the Silver Arrows now four points clear of Ferrari.

However, after Verstappen followed his Monza win with a P1 in Baku, while Yuki Tsunoda scored a solid P6, Russell does not see Ferrari alone over Mercedes’ shoulder.

Asked if he thinks Mercedes versus Ferrari will go down to the wire, in an Abu Dhabi decider, he replied: “Well, I think right now with the current form, there’s as much chance of Max finishing ahead of us as there is Ferrari, to be honest.”

Russell made that comment in the post-race FIA press conference, where he was joined by Azerbaijan GP winner Verstappen, and P3 finisher Carlos Sainz.

Reacting to Russell’s verdict, Verstappen looked to clarify: “Red Bull, no?”

“Yeah, Team Verstappen!” Russell quipped in response.

Russell’s light-hearted comment is a reference to how Verstappen has scored the vast majority of Red Bull’s points in recent years. However, Tsunoda more than played his part in Baku, as the Japanese racer shows signs of improvement under Laurent Mekies as Red Bull team boss.

Red Bull has reduced the deficit to Ferrari to 14 points, Mercedes and P2 only 18 points away.

Russell continued: “But, yeah — sorry, I lost my train of thought there. It just swings so quickly. Ferrari were looking amazingly strong on Friday here, and they’ve always been great here. Charles has been on pole four times here, and they could have easily been one-two on the grid. And with how difficult overtaking is, they probably would have finished one-two as well.

“But, obviously, they had a bad qualifying, and they came away with single-figure points, and we were the ones coming away with 30 points, so nobody knows.”

To Russell’s earlier point, Red Bull is more than capable of hanging in the P2 fight, especially if Verstappen’s resurgence can be supplemented by regular points from Tsunoda.

With Red Bull continuing evaluations over their F1 2026 drivers, Tsunoda is fighting for his future in the Red Bull ranks, and in Formula 1.

“I think it’s his best race with us this year,” Mekies declared on Tsunoda after the Azerbaijan GP. “I think he was strong in qualifying; he was very strong in the race.

“You know the clever guys will get the number right, but he was sometimes two, sometimes three, sometimes four-tenths away from Max. And Max was pulling away from everyone with that pace, so it was very, very serious pace.

“We thought he will have to defend very hard against McLaren and Ferrari to help with Max chasing the win, and he didn’t have to defend.

“He was actually there on merit and, Lando [Norris] stayed behind him and didn’t put much pressure on him. So it’s his best, not only result, but also race pace with us.

“It was really the one thing we wanted that probably was the most important for us to get that sort of clean sample, we said last time. And I think he was listening, and it’s good.”

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