Toto Wolff Exposes the Reason Behind Uncertainty over George Russell’s Contract Extension

Toto Wolff finally opened up on the reasons behind the intense delay in confirming George Russell's contract extension with Mercedes beyond 2025.

Toto Wolff Exposes the Reason Behind Uncertainty over George Russell’s Contract Extension

Toto Wolff and George Russell (via IMAGO)

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Mercedes’ George Russell is amongst the very few drivers on the current F1 grid who are yet to confirm their contractual situation for the 2025 season and beyond. The Briton has put forth a great performance this season and picked off two stellar race wins despite McLaren’s dominance.

Now that the current year nears completion, Team Principal Toto Wolff has pondered the reasons behind the delay in contract extension. Toto Wolff had a deep interest in acquiring Max Verstappen at Mercedes for the 2026 season and onwards.

There were even rumors that Verstappen was in advanced talks to join Brackley, with some reporting that a deal was done. However, the Dutchman put an end to the rumors and issued his full-fledged loyalty to Red Bull for the coming seasons.

Still, Wolff hoped for the reigning champion to join the German carmaker one day. George Russell has performed great this season and has kept up with positive results despite struggling on a particular race weekend. However, Toto Wolff’s interest in Verstappen was likely the reason behind Russell’s intense delay in extension.

The Briton had recently provided a long-awaited update on his contractual situation, but despite the Singapore GP race win, he has yet to receive some good news. Toto Wolff insisted that George Russell had remained formidable this year and accepted his shortcomings whenever he struggled during races.

Speaking on victory on Singaporean soil, Wolff highlighted that a perfect car, coupled with a driver’s racing talent, helped him achieve a dominant performance at the Singapore GP. The Austrian declared that good things took a while, as was the case with Russell’s contract as well. The 53-year-old noted that the delay was because of the fine details of the contract and not the big topics.

He’s been formidable this year, I haven’t seen any mistakes, and there were some weekends that he himself said: ‘I could have done more and this wasn’t a good race,’ But this happens with any driver, but you can see that with the car being in a perfect space and the driver being on top of things, you can have a dominant formula, and that’s what we’ve seen here. Contract-wise, good things take a while; it is about the detail and not about the big topics.

Toto Wolff said, as reported by RacingNews365.

George Russell asserts ‘no more updates’ in his 2026 Mercedes contract

Despite Mercedes finding great stability in their current driver lineup with George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, both drivers are yet to finalize their situation for the 2026 season. The reasons behind the intense delay are unknown, but many allege that Russell wants a longer contract while Toto Wolff wants to keep the doors open for Max Verstappen to join in the near future. Despite a stellar Singapore GP win, the Briton provides updates on his contractual situation for the coming season.

George Russell (via XPBimages)
George Russell (via XPBimages)

George Russell reckoned that contract negotiations were different for every individual driver as they were bound to have more or less control in the conversation. However, as for him, Russell revealed that he currently has no updates to ponder upon. The Briton insisted that he would be glad to reveal any good news once he found out about it.

It’s obviously different for certain drivers who may have a bit more power, may have a bit less power, But as I said, no more updates. Nothing to report. I’ll be glad to tell you all once there is.

George Russell said, as reported by RacingNews365.

The 2025 season only has six races left until completion. George Russell will definitely get impatient at one point down the year and hope for a quick solution to all these problems. With Mercedes rumored to be on top of the power unit development for the new regulations, Russell would definitely be eager to continue racing for the German carmaker in the coming seasons.

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