Toto Wolff still has not seen ‘enough’ of what he wanted from George Russell to agree new Mercedes contract

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George Russell landed a boost in his pursuit of a new contract with Mercedes after Toto Wolff admitted retaining the Briton and Andrea Kimi Antonelli is his ‘priority’.

The Silver Arrows still have decisions to make for their driver line-up for the 2026 F1 season, as Russell and Antonelli are both out of contract with Mercedes at the end of 2025. Wolff is biding his time before offering fresh terms in case a chance to sign Max Verstappen appears.

Wolff has long dreamt of seeing Verstappen race for Mercedes, so is loath to put his team in a position where they can miss out on the Dutchman if he decides to leave Red Bull. The 27-year-old is under contract through 2028, but his terms include a raft of possible exit clauses.

One clause in Verstappen’s £47m a year Red Bull contract can allow the four-time defending champion to move away from Milton Keynes for 2026 if he drops outside of the top three in the 2025 standings this summer. Verstappen is currently third and 18 points clear of Russell.

Toto Wolff has not seen ‘enough’ from George Russell’s results alone to agree a new Mercedes contract

Russell would need to outscore Verstappen by 19 points over the Belgian Grand Prix, where there is also an F1 Sprint, and Hungarian GP to allow his Red Bull rival the chance to get out of his contract. There are 58 points on offer from the two rounds before the summer break.

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So, Lawrence Barretto reports that the Briton remains ‘in limbo’, despite Wolff claiming that retaining Russell and Antonelli is Mercedes’ ‘priority’ prior to the Belgian GP. As Verstappen is still potentially in play for the F1 driver market, Mercedes will not rush to offer new terms.

If Mercedes had no hope for signing Verstappen, it would be a formality to finalise deals for Russell and Antonelli to lead them into the 2026 F1 regulations era. But the delay in finding an agreement persists as Wolff has still not seen ‘enough’ from Russell’s form in 2025 alone.

Russell has produced his career-best season since taking over the role of being Mercedes’ team leader next to rookie Antonelli this season. Yet the 27-year-old’s results have not been enough to tempt Wolff to put pen to paper, despite delivering 147 of Mercedes’ 210 points.

George Russell is enjoying his career-best Formula 1 season through 12 rounds in 2025

Russell’s 147 points from the first 12 of the 24 rounds in the 2025 F1 season eclipse the 111 that he scored with Mercedes after 12 rounds in 2024, 99 in 2023 and 143 in 2022, plus the 13 he scored for Williams in 2021. He did not score a point after 12 rounds in 2020 or 2019.

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The King’s Lynn native also boasts five of Mercedes’ six podiums this season, as well as their only pole position and Grand Prix victory thus far. Russell won the 2025 Canadian Grand Prix from pole, while Antonelli secured his maiden Formula 1 podium finish in Montreal, as well.

Yet Russell’s results alone have not been enough to tempt Wolff to end his long-term quest to sign Verstappen. He may also have more people to impress than the Silver Arrows’ team principal, as Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Kallenius is pressuring Wolff to sign Verstappen, too.