‘Leading paddock source’ links George Russell with shock move for F1 2026

George Russell is reportedly wanted by Aston Martin to spearhead their F1 project from 2026.

Aston Martin are targeting Russell to be part of their future plans as F1 undergoes a major regulation upheaval in 2026, according to a “leading paddock source” via a report by Motorsport.

Russell’s current Mercedes deal expires at the end of the year and the two parties are yet to sign off terms on a contract extension, even though this had been considered to be a formality.

Such a move for Russell would mean that either Fernando Alonso or Lance Stroll - both of whom are contracted for 2026 - would have to vacate their seat.

Stroll is on a rolling year-by-year deal but with his father Lawrence owning the team, it is hard to see him making way.

Alonso was seen making several visits to Alpine over the Canadian Grand Prix weekend, setting tongues wagging in the paddock that the two-time world champion could make a shock return to the Enstone team.

Russell ‘loyal to Mercedes’

Russell, who is the only high-profile driver without a contract for 2026, insisted he is not talking to any other teams following his impressive victory over Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in Canada.

“No, I'm not talking with anybody else and any teams who have shown interest. I have been quite open to say my intentions are to stay with Mercedes. That's always been clear,” he stressed.

“And, you know, I am loyal to Mercedes. They gave me this chance to get into Formula 1. There haven’t been any hard feelings with any of the talks that have been going around, you know, especially around Max because, like I said numerous times, why wouldn't teams be interested in Max if everybody could, if every driver had a clean, no contracts for next year, Max would be the number one for every single team. And that's understandable.

“But ultimately there are two seats for every race team and I knew if I continued to perform as I'm doing, my position would not be under threat whatsoever.  So, I feel in a good place. We're in no rush to do contract negotiations.”

After Russell took pole in qualifying on Saturday in Montreal, Toto Wolff hinted that Mercedes will finalise his new contract soon.

"He's giving us all the reasons to do that quickly,” Wolff told Sky Sports F1. "We know what he's capable of doing and he has been leading this team now since a while. He has the pace and the right attitude.

"He's been a Mercedes junior [for] such a long time, and we are on track in doing what we've always planned."