Mercedes have now held ‘initial talks’ with one ‘weird’ driver who could replace George Russell in 2026

Mercedes haven’t yet locked in their driver line-up for the 2026 season. Uncertainty persists over George Russell in particular.

Russell has won three races for Mercedes since replacing Valtteri Bottas in 2022, as well as taking five poles and 18 podiums. Fourth in the championship, he’s been one of the standout drivers in F1 this year.

And yet, he’s reached the 25% mark of his last contract year without a resolution. Russell says Mercedes are continuing their Lewis Hamilton-era policy of waiting until the summer.

Martin Brundle suspects, on the other hand, that Mercedes are holding Russell’s feet ‘to the fire’, hopeful that the pressure will continue to bring out the best in him. That would be a risky game to play.

Indeed, Russell has held discussions with Red Bull boss Christian Horner in recent weeks. That’s inevitably linked to the possibility that Max Verstappen will leave.

Mercedes now exploring move for Sergio Perez in case George Russell leaves

According to Motorsport.com, there’s a scenario where Russell moves to Red Bull and Verstappen prefers Aston Martin over Mercedes. That would leave the spot next to Kimi Antonelli empty.

Toto Wolff would look then to build the team around Antonelli, who underlined his superstar credentials by becoming F1’s youngest-ever polesitter in the Miami Sprint last weekend. He wants a driver who could be his ‘squire’.

And that’s why Mercedes have held ‘initial talks’ with Sergio Perez. This is a huge surprise considering that he unravelled at Red Bull last year, culminating in a payoff before the end of his contract.

But equally, he has 281 race starts under his belt – eighth all time – and has picked up six wins, three poles and 39 podiums. Wolff admires his contribution to car development and as well as his team play.

What Toto Wolff once said about rumours that Sergio Perez would replace Lewis Hamilton

One would suspect that any deal for Perez would be short-term at first. He’s 35 years old and would represent a gamble, but Mercedes are out of sync with the F1 driver market after most of the available options signed multi-year contracts last year.

Mercedes were linked with Perez at the end of 2021 in the event that Hamilton left after Abu Dhabi. While he called the ex-McLaren driver a ‘good guy’, Wolff said he’d ‘never’ called him about the move (via Motorsport Italy).

F1 expert Peter Windsor recently said that Perez used a ‘weird’ driving style at Red Bull as he tried to extract performance from a notoriously difficult car. Mercedes would have to iron out those habits and rebuild his confidence.

Perez has also been linked with Alpine in recent days. That move, incidentally, would pave the way for current Mercedes reserve Bottas to join Cadillac – another of the Mexican’s suitors.