[NeilP]

It has been claimed by German broadcaster RTL’s website that “Marko and Christian Horner have long had their eye on Russell…should Mercedes not bring him into the senior team, they will certainly try to poach Russell.”.

But Marko quashed talk of any interest in the 22-year-old Briton.

“First of all, he is a Mercedes driver, and secondly, he is managed by Toto Wolff. He told us, incidentally, that he has a 10-year contract with Wolff. That is something we cannot accept for our drivers.

“On top, we ourselves have young drivers whom we want to develop and who also have great talent.

Good I would not like him to go to a team that treats its second driver like an old cat turd. He is Mercedes future and a huge potential Russell in a Merc vs Leclerc in a Ferrari and Verstappen in a Red Bull should be the future we all look forward to.