Montoya: Russell too loyal to Mercedes, they should commit to him

Silverstone this weekend is the logical place for Mercedes to confirm Russell who has ticked all the boxes in his role as Lewis Hamilton's heir. Extending the Englishman's contract on the occasion of his home race will maximise PR brownie points and affirmation that George is their future.

If that does not happen this weekend, then one has to assume that Wolff is indeed courting Max Verstappen, as most are speculating, including F1 bookies offering odds of 2/1 that it could happen.

Speaking in the wake of heightened speculation linking Verstappen to Mercedes, Montoya said: "I think Russell has done a good enough job that he should have more stability than what he has right now. But it's the luck of the draw with how things pan out, you know what I mean? It sucks sometimes, timing is so important that if you're on the wrong side of the timing, it's hard.

"Personally, I don't know if George has spoken to more people but I think if Toto would see that George started to look at options, I think they would look at George differently. I think George to a fault is maybe too loyal.

"That is really good. That is what you would expect from somebody like him but he's not getting the same treatment but hey, it's just speculations at the end of the day," ventured Montoya.

Montoya urged Mercedes to back Russell over 17-year-old Kimi Antonelli if Verstappen remains out of reach: "If I were Toto, I would actually commit to George long-term and keep Kimi in the balance as a yeah maybe. They invested a lot in George as well, and George is further along."

"With George, they did the right thing when they brought him from Williams. He developed in Williams and then when he was ready he was brought in and when he was ready and he was better than Lewis."

But Montoya suspects Mercedes’ strategy centres on Verstappen: "So I think what he's planning is that he's gonna get Max when Max can get out. And on the basis of what he can do, in my opinion, if I was him and I wanted Max that bad, I would sign Max and go okay, I have the first option when you leave Red Bull."

"The first time you can leave Red Bull, you can come [to Mercedes]. The first time you can get out of your contract, I get you and it’s Red Bull next year and with the engine change and they struggle then for 2027 you’ll have Max."

Seven-time Grand Prix winner, Montoya believes Mercedes are managing Antonelli cautiously: "The good thing with him and Kimi is, you know, Mercedes have Kimi by the balls. They can tell Kimi we're gonna do a year-by-year deal."

But Russell, he said, won’t be easily pushed around: "The question is, if they go to George and they offer George a one-year deal with an option, if George is gonna take that?"

That could open the door for a Red Bull counterplay: "George has done a really good job so at that point does Red Bull play the same game and try to sign George?"

"Okay, you want to sign Max, but we're going to play the same game. So for next year, we will sign George for three years. Sign George for a ton of money for three years and if they have a good car and end up with George and Max then it becomes a Mercedes problem, not a Red Bull problem."

If Russell and Verstappen do end up at Mercedes together, Montoya warned neither will hold sway over who partners them: "When you are the driver and if you don't want to be here, the door is right there. I don't think either Russell or Verstappen will be allowed to have much of an opinion of the teammate at that point."