GEORGE RUSSELL says he would welcome Max Verstappen to Mercedes as Lewis Hamilton’s replacement.
Verstappen is at the centre of a bitter row between his father Jos and Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner.
The controversy surrounding the Red Bull team principal dominated the season’s opening race in Bahrain.
Horner, 50, was exonerated by an independent investigation into allegations of inappropriate behaviour made by an employee.
But just 24 hours later his private conversations with an alleged female colleague were leaked online – though Horner has ‘fully denied’ all accusations.
Verstappen Snr has called for Horner’s head and said his son could be forced to quit the team if Horner stays – despite winning the Bahrain GP by over 22 seconds.
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Mercedes is an obvious destination for Verstappen given his father’s close ties to Merc boss Toto Wolff and could fill the vacant seat left by Hamilton, who is joining Ferrari in 2025.
Russell said: “Any team wants to have the best driver line-up possible and right now Max is the best driver on the grid.
“If any team had a chance to sign Max they would 100 per cent be taking it, but the question is on his side and Red Bull’s side.
“We don’t know what is truly going on behind closed doors and it is none of our business, but it would be exciting.”
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Meanwhile, Russell has called for clarity over the FIA investigation into President Mohammed Ben Sulayem, who has been alleged to have fudged the result of last year’s Saudi GP.
Russell was promoted to third place and then had the position taken away after the FIA performed a U-turn on a penalty for Fernando Alonso.
A whistleblower says the decision was overturned following a telephone call from Ben Sulayem.
Russell added: “We want to see all of the facts and just have total transparency.
“We are all racing here, we want a fair and level playing field for us to showcase what we can do. I can’t really comment further.
“We were surprised a year ago when the result got overturned as the legal team at Mercedes thought they did a great job of presenting our case initially, winning and then losing it thereafter.
“We just want to see transparency and have that opportunity to race at a fair playing field.”
The 26-year-old Brit was speaking ahead of this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Verstappen’s current deal with Red Bull runs until 2028.
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
