Former Ferrari engineer Rob Smedley said he would “100%” replace George Russell with Max Verstappen if he were in Toto Wolff’s shoes.

Four-time World Champion Verstappen is the hottest property on the grid and with his Red Bull future less than certain, a number of teams are vying to land his signature.

Max Verstappen backed to replace George Russell if Red Bull exit happens

A long-time admirer of the Dutchman has been Mercedes with Wolff trying to entice him from Red Bull and join ahead of the 2025 season.

As it transpired, Verstappen was not interested in the move, leaving Wolff to promote Kimi Antonelli to Lewis Hamilton’s seat but the prospect of Verstappen moving in 2026 or later is still not off the table.

With two seats in the team, it would be Antonelli or Russell to give way but considering the Briton is out of contract this year and Antonelli is seen by Wolff as the next Verstappen, it looks clear which driver would face the axe should Verstappen agree to join.

Smedley, who was the race engineer for Felipe Massa at Ferrari from 2006 to 2013, said he would “100%” replace Russell with Verstappen.

“Oh, that’s a very, very tough question because you’ve got a four-time world champion who is a guy who is one of those very, very special drivers and there’s very few of them who can drive over and above what the car can actually deliver,” he told the F1 Nation podcast.

“And he did that on Saturday in Miami and he did that at the start of the race.

“So if I was in a position to make this decision, which is what you’re actually asking me, would I want Max Verstappen in my car over anybody else on the grid right now?

“Yeah, 100% I would. No doubt.”

As to why he would make that call, Smedley believes Verstappen would push Mercedes to the next level.

“I would take the talent and that grit and that determination. You know Max as well as I do, he cares about one thing which is to go racing.

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“The rest of it, the periphery nonsense that kind of hovers around Formula 1, he has no interest in whatsoever.

“If you can put somebody that motivated and that focused in your team, in any position, and that talented, whether it’s in the engineering team, the commercial team, or in the cockpit, you want them, 100% you want them, because Formula 1 is all about putting that talent in, getting that talent in play, and then orchestrating it so that it can work together.

“Talent like Max Verstappen will continue to push the team to do 101% every single day, there’s no slacking, there’s no days off.”

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