Toto Wolff shares his assessment of how he's handled the Mercedes drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli's contracts

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has given his verdict on the handling of the driver contracts of George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli. The duo's contracts were recently extended for the 2026 Formula 1 season.

Toto Wolff has been a long-time admirer of the four-time world champion and current Red Bull driver Max Verstappen. Earlier in the 2025 season, Wolff showed immense interest in acquiring Verstappen, but when it was confirmed that the latter was going nowhere at least for 2026, the Austrian had to switch his attention back to the current drivers.

George Russell has been making his trade with the Brackley-based outfit since 2022 and is the de facto leader on the team. Young sensation Andrea Kimi Antonelli is competing in his maiden Formula 1 campaign this year.

In line with the recent contract extensions of Russell and Kimi Antonelli, Toto Wolff has shared his verdict and talked about being open and transparent.

"Being open and transparent is the best path forward. Sometimes it bites you a bit. And when you look back, maybe certain events could have been better — coincidences that happened." "But I’ve always done it in the most straightforward and fair way. I stand by the driver choices — by George and Kimi. This is the full focus, and that was always the aim, throughout the more tricky part over the summer." (Via: Racingnews365).

In the ongoing 2025 Formula 1 season, George Russell is in fourth place in the drivers' standings, and Andrea Kimi Antonelli is in seventh for the Toto Wolff-led Mercedes team.

Toto Wolff's take on 'formidable' George Russell in 2025

F1 Grand Prix Of Singapore - Source: Getty

While Toto Wolff has come up with an optimistic take following the re-signing of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli for 2026, he left no stone unturned in praising Russell after his victory in the challenging Singapore Grand Prix. In line with this, Wolff even deemed the Brit 'formidable' and added:

"I think we've seen George in the past with these moments, but not recently, and that's the step-up that he has made also this year, that these things don't happen again. He was in control of the race today, eking out an advantage, managing it when Max was a bit closer, and there was not at any moment a doubt that there was any risk in his driving." "He's been formidable this year. I haven't seen mistakes. There were weekends that he himself said I could have done more, that it wasn't a good race." (Via: F1).

George Russell has proved himself as an extremely strong racing driver in the 2025 Formula 1 season. In a campaign that has mainly been dominated by McLaren, he has been able to secure two Grand Prix wins and eight podiums.

Edited by Rishabh Negi