“Make it happen”: George Russell wants Mercedes F1 to sign Max Verstappen to replace Lewis Hamilton next year

Mercedes driver George Russell claimed that he was keen to take on the challenge to partner Max Verstappen and urged the German team to 'make it happen'.

The three-time world champion's future has been the talk of the paddock since the beginning of the season despite him having a contract with Red Bull until the end of 2028.

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has frequently flirted with the idea of bringing Verstappen to the team to replace the departing Lewis Hamilton for next year.

As per Crash.net, Russell welcomed the challenge to race alongside the Dutch driver and said:

"I'd be all for it. Coming into Mercedes in 2022, off the back of Lewis' legendary years and victories was a huge task for anybody, jumping into a team where he's been for so long. I believe in myself, that you need to go up against the best in the same machinery and show what you've got."

"I feel that having Lewis as my teammate for the past three years, he's been a hell of a team-mate, and we push each other every single week so it is fair to say that I would welcome Max. I want to go against the best, so yeah, make it happen."

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George Russell chimes in on Mercedes' woes heading into Miami

George Russell stated that Mercedes had learned a lot from the 'last couple of races' as they look to understand their platform as they have brought upgrades to the Miami GP this weekend.

Speaking with Motorsport, the British driver previewed the Sprint weekend and said:

“There's been a lot of learning from the past couple of races. I think we find ourselves in a much better position now that we've done some extreme sets of options between the races.

“We know where the car is operating at its best. I think now we just need to fine-tune that and build upon some better foundations.”

Despite Russell's fighting talk off the track, Mercedes failed to get out of the SQ2 as both he and Lewis Hamilton finished outside the Top 10 in P11 and P12 during Sprint qualifying on Friday afternoon at the Miami Autodrome.

The duo would hope to find solutions to their problems before the Sprint race and make progress on Saturday to get some important points for the team before they make the necessary changes for the main qualifying later that day.