George Russell names Max Verstappen as his dream next Mercedes teammate

Hamilton, at 38, is the second-oldest driver on the current F1 grid but his legendary career is set to be extended by a new Mercedes contract, which will likely take him into his 40s.

But the seven-time world champion belongs to a generation older than most of the grid, including his teammate of two seasons, Russell.

Russell was asked in an interview with Canal+ by Naomi Schiff: “Lewis is not going to race forever. 

“If you could pick your next teammate, who would you pick? And why?”

Russell offered a glimpse into his mind-set by answering: “I’d pick Max. Because when I joined Mercedes to be teammates with Lewis, Lewis was and is regarded as the best driver of all time.

“You want to go against the best, test yourself against the best, learn from the best.

“For me, having these 18 months alongside Lewis has been really, really great to push my boundaries, to learn more about myself as a driver and as an individual.

“And obviously Max is at the top of his game, right now. Destroying Formula 1. So we’d all want to go against Max, and see how we get on.”

Russell notably became just the third teammate to outperform Hamilton over an entire season last year, the first of Mercedes’ troubles.

Red Bull have taken over during that time and Verstappen is on course for a third championship in a row.

This weekend at the F1 Italian Grand Prix, Mercedes are among the chasing pack who hope to end Verstappen and Red Bull’s winning streak.