Sebastian Vettel retired from F1 at the end of the 2022 season.

George Russell and Sebastian Vettel (Via: Imago)

Sebastian Vettel, the four-time world champion has amassed immense attention since the Japanese GP weekend. He has been at the center of various kinds of rumors signaling his potential return to F1 in 2025 with Mercedes.

Several prominent personalities have given their verdict on it and the latest to join the Sebastian Vettel bandwagon is the current Mercedes driver, George Russell. The latter genuinely feels that the German is being missed on the F1 grid.

Vettel retired from the sport at the end of the 2022 season.

Sebastian's a great person and he's a four-time world champion. For sure, his personality is missed on the grid, and I think it's important that we have the best 20 drivers in the world all competing for race wins and championships.

George Russell said in an interview with racingnews365

The Brit has made it known that in his opinion, Sebastian Vettel is still among the top twenty drivers in F1. Being a former four-time world champion, he has immense pedigree and any team would be fortunate to have him on board.

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George Russell is ‘open’ to have anyone as his Mercedes teammate

While George Russell has showered immense praise on Sebastian Vettel, he has also made it known that he is open to having anyone as his teammate for next year. The 26-year-old has immense faith in his abilities as a racing driver.
George Russell (via IMAGO)
In the recent past, he even claimed that he would be open to having the prolific Max Verstappen as his teammate.

I’m really happy and open to have anybody as my team-mate. Whether it's world champion, whether it's a rookie, it doesn't change how I go about my business. And as I said before, we’d welcome anybody.

George Russell said in the same interview

Russell will assume the lead-driver role at Mercedes from 2025 onward. However, if a senior driver like Vettel does make it into the team, it will be fascinating to see how the young Brit will then deal with the situation.