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Mercedes and Russell's stance over next F1 contract
George Russell is one of the few remaining race winners without a long-term deal in F1. Does Mercedes risk losing him for 2026? Here's what Mercedes and Russell have to say about a new deal
After Mercedes openly flirted with Max Verstappen last year in a bid to sign him, and it's not yet impossible he becomes available, incumbent George Russell could be forgiven for thinking that getting an early 2026 Formula 1 contract sorted would be in his best interests.
There are not many seats available elsewhere. Short of uncertainty over Verstappen's future and if Liam Lawson keeps his seat at Red Bull, and any other unseen contract clauses, Mercedes' closest rivals McLaren and Ferrari are all sorted for at least 2026 - and Russell has nothing guaranteed right now. So achieving job security would be logical in case a shock Verstappen Red Bull exit risks leaving him high and dry.
However, ahead of the F1 season opener, neither Russell nor Mercedes appear to be in any rush to get things moving on this front – as both have made a pact to wait for each other.
From Mercedes’ perspective, its situation is different to last year where, with Lewis Hamilton having announced he was leaving the team in January, it needed somebody new.
Now, with Kimi Antonelli in place and Mercedes is happy with Russell’s role as team leader, thoughts on drivers have shifted – which means a pursuit of Verstappen has been called off.
Speaking at a media event in Melbourne on Thursday, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said: “We’ve said it pretty clearly last year, and he [Verstappen] said the same - we need to concentrate on our driver line-up. We need to do the best that we have.
“I don’t flirt outside if I’m in a good relationship and that is true for this year too.
“So, at the moment, that’s not on any radar, and I don’t plan to shift my concentration away from these guys.
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“I’ll make sure that George has visibility pretty soon - or has a contract and we agree on the final things.”
Driver market focus
A strong start to 2025 could result in Russell becoming a key figure in the driver market, especially because he is one of the few race winners available for next season.
Mercedes holding back too long could risk a scenario where a rival swoops in and successfully lures him away – with Red Bull last year stirring the pot in suggesting the Briton could be one of its options longer term.
Russell is not the kind of driver who is into negotiating games and playing one team off another in the bid to ramp up his wages – nor does he seem to have that ruthless streak where he will lead one team on while his heart is set on doing something else.
Instead, as he said in Melbourne, his priority right now is not nailing down his 2026 future – it is more about getting himself and Mercedes back to the front of the grid.
Asked if he can afford to sit back, he said: “Ultimately if you’re performing people will want you. It is not like I’m rushing to sign a contract if the team don’t want to sign me. This is going both ways.
“We’re in no rush. We want to see as the season progresses, how the car is developing into 2026. We’ve got a big regulation change and it’s not just into ‘26, it’s also the longer term.
“It’s not quite as simple as 'let’s just sign a contract and move on'. We’re talking about potentially the next three, four, five years of our lives for all of us here.
“As I said, when the time is right, we’ll spend the time to go over those items. Right now it isn’t, because the focus is getting Mercedes back to the front. And if it can’t be for this year, then it’s for next year.”
Leaving things up in the air is perhaps a bigger risk for Mercedes than it is Russell, because there are not that many experienced, successful drivers out there available if the Briton is lured elsewhere.
But Wolff says the timetable to chat contracts has been laid down, and he sees no need to change that.
“We had a chat a few weeks ago about what the right timing would be to liaise and I’m naively or not someone who sticks to what he says,” said Wolff, as he sat alongside his full line-up of Russell, Kimi Antonelli and reserve Valtteri Bottas.
“These three are the combination I want to go forward with Mercedes, I have no other reasons to doubt that. On the contrary.
“We’re going to find some time I guess before the summer. I need to be careful what I say to you because you will hear every month ‘have those discussions happened?’. But we’ll do that in a timely manner without disrupting the season.”
