On the run from Kimi
Mercedes has clearly made it known – although there has not yet been an official confirmation – that the pair of main drivers for the 2027 season will remain Andrea Kimi Antonelli and George Russell. Also this year, the many rumors about a possible arrival of Max Verstappen in black and silver did not materialize, but in the medium term future, there could be even sensational changes in the composition of the Brackley line-up. Burned by what happened in the first half of this season, in fact, George Russell would be looking around for the future.
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Suggesting his possible departure from Mercedes at the end of the 2027 season was former Haas team principal Günther Steiner, who spoke about this possibility in a recent episode of the Red Flags podcast, in which he regularly participates. Russell would have been very upset by the outcome of this first half of the season, in which he was consistently beaten by Antonelli and was the victim of an endless series of technical problems and reliability issues with his Mercedes.
Therefore, during the 2027 season the Englishman could decide to sit down with other teams to seriously consider a future away from the team that raised him, especially if Antonelli continues to achieve these results. “I think George is looking around now, knowing that at the moment he is with Kimi. He doesn’t want to stay with Kimi for the rest of his life, because there he already knows what his situation will be forever. So he is trying to find new opportunities,” Steiner said.
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Audi an attractive option
One idea, according to Steiner, could be Audi. The Hinwil team has the prestige of the brand, being a manufacturer, and is showing concrete progress in terms of performance that give hope: “There is a lot of interest from drivers to move to Audi for 2028 – Steiner said – for next year the situation is practically defined, but maybe there is a chance for 2028. It is a rather interesting team because it is making good progress and their project seems to be on the right track. I think there would be quite a few candidates. One is definitely Carlos Sainz“.
Assuming that Mattia Binotto and Allan McNish do not want to give up a young growing talent like Gabriel Bortoleto, there would remain only one seat available for 2028: the one currently occupied by Nico Hulkenberg. Will Sainz and Russell really compete for it? Only time will tell, but for both this prospect seems anything but unrealistic.
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