George Russell says Max Verstappen did not have the same complaints as rivals about the last era of Formula 1 cars as he “was winning” but admits he would “understand” if the four-time world champion walked away from the sport.

Verstappen's future in the sport beyond this season is currently uncertain with the Red Bull driver having been a vocal critic of the new 2026 regulations and the effect the 50-50 split between internal combustion and electrical power has had on driving.

The Dutchman dropped his strongest hint yet that he was considering quitting after this year following the last race in Japan last month.

In a Mercedes media session held amid F1's five-week break before the sport's return to action on May 1-3 in Miami, Russell was asked whether he thought whether Verstappen leaving was likely and how F1 would cope if he did walk away.

"Formula 1 is bigger than any driver," replied Russell. "You wouldn't want to lose Max because I think we all enjoy racing against Max.

"It's just part and parcel of Formula 1. I didn't enjoy driving the '22 car when it was porpoising up and down, killing everybody's backs. The car was big, it was heavy, the high-speed corners it wasn't very pleasant to drive around, but he didn't have the same complaint because he was winning.

"Now, the complaints that he has currently are different to the complaints of Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren because we're at the front end of the grid. This is only natural and you do understand and recognise the frustration.

"But he's achieved what most drivers dream of, which is winning a championship. He's got four of them. At the end of the day, I guess you get to a point in life… there's not really much more for him to achieve in Formula 1. He's ticked all the boxes, maybe he can go after the records."

Russell, chasing his maiden drivers' title this year with Mercedes starting F1's new era ahead of the pack, said he can "totally understand" why with so much success already behind him in F1, Verstappen is already engaging in GT3 endurance racing at Germany's legendary Nordschleife, which he returns for further races this weekend.

"Knowing him as I do and knowing drivers who have won or achieved similar things, at one point you want to do what puts a smile on your face," added Russell.

"I can totally understand why driving the Nordschleife puts a smile on his face. I've driven hundreds of laps around the Nordschleife on the simulator and I would love to have that chance to go and race around the Nordschleife.

"But my goal now is to become a Formula 1 world champion. If I have four of them under my belt, I'd probably be doing the same. He's in a very different stage of his career.

"I think you'd understand if he stayed and you'd understand if he went."

'The others are going to be hot on our heels' - Russell braced for rivals' fightback to Mercedes

While Red Bull look unlikely to be in championship contention this year, Mercedes reinforced their position as pre-season title favourites by winning the season's opening three grands prix at the start of F1's new regulation era.

The enforced April break has since allowed all teams to work on their cars back at their factories and although Russell - who lost the leadership of the drivers' title race to team-mate Kimi Antonelli in Japan - is not expecting a wholesale shake-up of the order on F1's return in Miami, he is also aware that Mercedes' clear early-season advantage will not "continue indefinitely" with 19 races remaining.

Reflecting on the opening rounds which saw him win once and Antonelli twice, Russell said: "I think we definitely hit the ground running in the first three races, and you actually saw that with all of the power unit manufacturers, or at least ourselves and Ferrari, that we as the factory team have better understanding of the energy management compared to the customers teams.

"And that's only fair because we have hundreds of people working towards that, and we've been working on the simulator towards this for three years now.

"So, naturally, those major differences we saw in Melbourne I think have already closed up, and everyone's going to continue to get a greater understanding race by race.

"I think the field will slowly bunch up but I don't think you're going to suddenly see any drastic changes. But I don't expect our major pace advantage to continue indefinitely. I think the others are going to be hot on our heels."

Antonelli leads Russell by nine points at the head of the Drivers' Championship, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc 23 points back in third place.

Formula 1 returns on May 1-3 with the Miami Grand Prix, the season's second Sprint weekend, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime

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