“Need to wait & see”: George Russell comments on potential Mercedes contract update

George Russell has recently weighed in on his contract situation at Mercedes ahead of the second half of the season. The 27-year-old has seen his immediate future thrown into doubt amid the team’s reported interest in Max Verstappen.

The King's Lynn native is currently in the final year of his contract with the Brackley-based outfit, and ongoing speculation about Mercedes’ pursuit of the Dutch driver has cast uncertainty over his future. Amid these rumours, however, Russell has spoken about when he could potentially sign a new deal with the team.

During an interaction with the media, he admitted that he couldn’t offer a definite timeline for signing a new contract. Sharing his thoughts, George Russell stated (via PlanetF1):

“There’s not really any deadline in place, to be honest. Obviously, naturally, you try and have stuff done before the summer break. From my side, Mercedes manage me as well, so it’s not really a deadline in my hands as such. So, yeah, not really. And I’m not even thinking about it right now.”

Addressing the ongoing speculation about his immediate future, he added:

“Obviously, there’s a lot of questions about it. But the more we speak, the less we speak about it, nothing really changes. It’ll happen when the time is right. I expect probably in the next couple of weeks, probably something to happen. But, yeah, we’ll need to wait and see.”

George Russell joined the Mercedes team from Williams ahead of the 2022 campaign. The British driver has so far claimed four Grand Prix victories, including his most recent win at the Canadian Grand Prix. Whether he ends up signing a new deal with the German outfit remains to be seen.

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Mercedes team principal speaks about George Russell’s contract situation

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has also weighed in on George Russell’s contract situation. The 53-year-old revealed that he has been transparent about his decisions and noted that a final decision may not be made until the summer break.

The motorsport executive, speaking to the media following the conclusion of the British Grand Prix, reiterated the need for calm, with the focus now shifting to the summer break before any announcement is expected. Sharing his thoughts, he stated (via Planet F1):

“You need to be respectable towards the stakeholders in all of that process. The organisation, the drivers, everybody—you need to understand the way forward. And I don’t want to be sadistic in letting a driver wait, not taking any decisions when it should be taken.” “Obviously, there’s lots of discussions around, and I’ve been open with it and transparent, and at a certain stage—until the summer break—we need to know. Until the summer break, everything is going to be done,” he added.

So far, Wolff has not hidden his desire to sign Verstappen for his Mercedes team ahead of the sweeping regulation changes set for 2026. However, what the potential signing of the four-time world champion would mean for George Russell and rising star Kimi Antonelli has become a major talking point.

In particular, ongoing speculation has suggested that, in the event Verstappen joins Mercedes, it could likely spell the end of George Russell’s stint at the Brackley-based outfit.

Edited by Riddhiman Sarkar