George Russell suggests Lewis Hamilton grave mistake as F1 icon approaches Ferrari switch

Max Verstappen has comfortably tallied up three world titles with a fourth expected to follow this season.

The 2025 campaign will be vastly different with Hamilton leaving to join Ferrari and a host of other drivers set to change teams.

But all eyes will be on 2026 when F1 goes through it's next cycle of major regulation changes.

Hamilton decided to jump ship from Mercedes to join their rivals Ferrari, clearly holding the belief the Italian team have a better plan going forward.

However, Russell has seen enough from the team to indicate they are on the right track to get back at the top of the sport.

“I mean, ordinarily, 2026 seems like a long time away, but in the world of Formula 1 it’s going to be here tomorrow, and the team are feeling really confident for this era,” he said.

“I think you know the experience the team have had, the success in 2014 with the new powertrain, and then obviously the time in Formula E, the work that was done with the [Mercedes-AMG ONE] Hypercar.

“There are a lot of individuals within HPP [Mercedes High Performance Powertrains] who have got so much experience with this future technology.

“I think that leaves us in a really great place to have a great engine.

"And the work [Mercedes fuel and lubricant partner] Petronas are doing on the fuel as well is looking really strong.

"So, on the engine side, I think we’re feeling very confident for that era.”

When Hamilton's shock agreement to join Ferrari from the 2025 season was announced, the 39-year-old admitted it was the 'hardest decision' he's ever made in F1.

He's spent his entire racing career using Mercedes engines and won all of his seven world titles with the manufacturer.

But Hamilton also conceded that helping Ferrari return to the top after their long championship drought was too enticing to turn down.

“Of course, I think for every driver growing up, watching the history, watching Michael Schumacher in his prime, I think probably all of us sit in our garage and see the screen pop up, and you see the driver in the red cockpit and you wonder what it would be like to be surrounded by the red,” Hamilton said.

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“You go to the Italian Grand Prix and you see the sea of red Ferrari fans and you can only stand in awe of that.

"It’s a team that’s not had huge success recently, since 2007, and I saw it as a huge challenge.

"Without a doubt, even as a kid, I used to play [on games] as Michael in that car, so it definitely is a dream and I’m really, really excited about it.”