George Russell was flattered by Max Verstappen's admission that he is a potential Formula 1 champion – but knows he is not alone in that category.
Russell became an F1 race winner last year by taking victory at the Brazilian Grand Prix. He might have hoped for many more in his first season with Mercedes, but his move from Williams coincided with the Silver Arrows' decline in car competitiveness.
Still, fans, pundits and fellow racers alike were impressed by Russell and the way he beat team-mate Lewis Hamilton in their first season together. And Verstappen knows the Brit will be a tough rival if Mercedes are able to give him a car that can match the Red Bulls.
He said earlier this year: "George is part of the generation with Lando [Norris] and Charles [Leclerc] and me that grew up together. I raced against George a bit in karting, though he's a year younger. You could see straight away he was good.
"It came naturally to him – he didn't need a lot of laps to be quick. He has the potential to be a world champion." Norris recently said something similar about Russell, while Mercedes chief Toto Wolff knows he has "a champion in the making" as his disposal as well.
When those positive comments were put to him in an interview with Square Mile, Russell was flattered by also realistic. "Yeah, I mean obviously it's always nice to hear positive things being spoken about you," he said.
"But there's probably a handful of drivers on the grid right now who are all world champion worthy – some of which are already world champions, some of which haven't won world championships yet and would definitely win a world championship if they were in the right car at the right time.
"As to what I can do to give myself the best chance, it's just about continuing to work and keep on pushing, never giving up and ultimately making sure that I'm ready to fight when you've got that machine beneath you that's capable of winning. I hope that comes sooner than later.
"But I believe I've got a good 15 years left in me and I've got to keep on working on my fitness, keep on working on my race craft, keep on working on how I work with my team to make sure that if my opportunity is tomorrow, I'm ready tomorrow. If my opportunity is in three, four, five, or even ten years, so be it."
