F1 Canadian GP winner George Russell primary target for Aston Martin for 2026: Reports

It is being speculated that Mercedes driver George Russell, who won the Canadian GP, is the primary target for Aston Martin F1 for the 2026 season. The British driver has been one of the top drivers this year and has produced consistent results in the first half of the season thus far.

Despite assuming the role of lead driver in the Brackley-based outfit, the 27-year-old will be out of contract at the end of the 2025 season. Although there have been reports that Mercedes and Russell will sign a new deal in the coming months, there has been no official confirmation on the subject till now.

As reported by Motorsport.com, George Russell has become a primary target for Aston Martin for the 2026 season. The iconic British team has been gearing up for the new regulations for quite some time now and has made eye-catching signings, including Adrian Newey and Andy Cowell in the technical department.

The Silverstone-based outfit, which is co-owned by Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll, has reportedly expressed its interest in the young British driver for next year. Although the interest was not unfounded, it did raise some questions given that both their drivers, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, are under contract with Aston Martin until the end of the 2026 season.

However, there has been no official confirmation regarding the same from either party until now.

George Russell comments on his future with Mercedes

Mercedes driver George Russell stated that he was interested in signing a new deal with the German team, as he extended his loyalty towards the former world champions.

Speaking in the post-race press conference, the four-time F1 race winner provided an update on his contract situation and said:

"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. And 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, especially around Max. Because, like I said numerous times, why wouldn't teams be interested in Max?

"If every driver had no contracts for next year, Max would be number one for every single team. And that's understandable. But ultimately, there are two seats for every race team. 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."

George Russell has been part of the Mercedes family since 2016 and joined the senior team in 2022 after he replaced Valtteri Bottas.

About the author

Devang is a Formula 1 and NASCAR journalist at Sportskeeda with 3500+ articles and over 5 million reads under his belt. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication and has a total experience of 3.5 years.

To keep up with the sport’s developments, Devang watches every single session and comes up with unique angles for the stories, from the readers’ perspective, using his expertise in the field. He strives to report accurate, ethical and relevant data by reading information from verified sources in the field, ones that are also trusted by industry experts.

Currently, his favorite drivers on the grid are Charles Leclerc and Daniel Ricciardo; he is particularly impressed by how the two drivers rarely lose their cool and approach everything with a smile on their faces. He classifies himself as a ‘Tifosi’ and is a Charles Leclerc fan.

Devang is a sports buff and when he is away from his keyboard, he watches other sports like cricket, tennis, badminton, and football, to name a few.

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Edited by Hitesh Nigam