Nico Rosberg’s ‘knife towards Toto’ theory behind Christian Horner’s George Russell comment

Nico Rosberg believes Christian Horner suggesting they are interested in signing George Russell was “politics and strategy” designed to unsettle Toto Wolff.

Horner made the surprise declaration that Russell could be a driver Red Bull are looking at and although Wolff dismissed it as Horner “stirring s**t” , Rosberg believes it is a strategic move by the Red Bull boss.

Nico Rosberg questions motives behind Christian Horner’s George Russell comment

Both Russell and new signing Kimi Antonelli are out of contract at the end of 2025 and Horner has attempted to put the cat amongst the pigeons by suggesting Red Bull could look to take Russell away from the Silver Arrows.

“We’ve got a gap now but we just want to take time to consider what do those options look like for the future,” Horner told Sky Sports F1.

“And we’re not afraid to go out of the pool. You know, George Russell is out of contract at the end of next year. It would be foolish not to take that into consideration.

“There are other talented drivers that could well be out of contract as well.”

But Rosberg believes those words are calculated and designed to unsettle Wolff.

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“It’s politics and strategy, because he wants to unsettle Toto,” Rosberg said, “And if Toto suddenly hears Horner talking about Russell and Russell doesn’t have a contract, Toto might be thinking ‘oh, damn, should I be trying to get an option on on George or what?’

“And it’s unsettling. So it’s always part of the game, isn’t it?”

Elaborating further on the subject on the Sky Sports F1 podcast , the 2016 World Champion explained: “That was a bit of a knife thrown towards Toto there, I felt, because it obviously puts the pressure on Toto to make a decision.

“I mean, George doesn’t have a contract [for 2026], and so Christian could be really naughty and just try and really, you know, snatch him away from there and try and lock him in through contact already now.

“I don’t know if George would even be interested, but it does add the pressure for Toto, a comment like that.”

If Russell were to make a surprise move to Red Bull, it would most likely be to replace Sergio Perez who continues to struggle for form. A P10 finish in Singapore followed a late crash in Baku and Rosberg suggested the Mexican has to find form soon or risk the axe.

“It’s just the usual struggles that just continue when compared with Max,” Rosberg said. “Who really was at his very best again this weekend.

“That just makes that gap so big, because we know that the Red Bull car is having a difficult time, and this is the worst track for the Red Bull car, Singapore, and I think that’s just the result there.

“But he really does have to find some progress at some point, otherwise they’re going to question him again for next year.”

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