Last Updated on March 31 2025, 11:52 am

Toto Wolff may be one of the newer kids on the block in terms of his membership of the Piranha club, yet his ability to weave a web of untruths is masterful. As the Formula One ground effect cars were introduced in 2022 and Mercedes flunked the technical examination, Wolff decided it best fitted his team to complain about safety to the FIA.

As far as Toto was concerned his car was the worst amongst the front runners and so any kind of regulation change could upset the pecking order in Mercedes’ favour. This earned him the infamous response from Christian Horner to “change your fucking car,” as Netflix revealed in their broadcast of the team principals’ meeting in Canada.

With Lewis Hamilton having told the world Mercedes’ was no longer the future as he dropped his bombshell move to Ferrari in 2024, Wolff had a strategy to divert some of the scrutiny away from his engineers and underperforming car. As the internal rows at Red Bull ramped up, Toto made a very public appear to Max Verstappen to join Mercedes, a theme he strangely pursued even when it was announced that Kimi Antonelli would be replacing the seven times champion.

 

 

 

Wolff cites Mercedes other one year deals

Unlike Red Bull, Wolff has just two F1 cars at his disposal and three into two doesn’t goes what’s the plan for George or Kimi? The young Italian has been signed on a one year deal which was hailed by Wolff as the way the team goes about its driver contracts. When asked why Antonelli hadn’t been tied down for longer, there Mercedes boss replied: “Like with times in the past, we always had very short contracts with each of the drivers – even with Lewis [Hamilton] last time around, was one [year] plus one.”

Indeed the big announcement of Hamilton’s “multi-year deal” with Mercedes was disingenuous and clearly Lewis didn’t think much of its terms as he quit the team a handful of weeks after the ink had dried. But that was Hamilton’s ONLY deal will guaranteed just one year, his previous contracts with Mercedes ran on two or even three year cycles.

A Mercedes driver who was on a permanent one year rolling contract was Valtteri Bottas who joked in 2023 that finally his new deal with Sauber was not just for a single season. The Finn had one role to fulfil within the uber dominant silver arrows team at the time, and that was to be there when Hamilton messed up to pick up the pieces and score good points for Mercedes.

So how is the case that the newly announced ‘team leader’ for Mercedes remains on a deal; that expires at the end of the 2025 season? George Russell is out of contract this year too but Toto has made few efforts to lock him down for the future. To a certain degree, Wolff has the upper hand in this regards given the seats at front running Ferrari and McLaren are locked down for multiple years.

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Mercedes boss wants George and Kimi to “settle in”

There is of course the possibility Red Bull will ditch the ineffective Dr. Marko and his failed junior driving programme and recruit an experienced driver once again to partner Max. There is a danger this could be Russell, although he and Verstappen are barely on speaking terms after their row in Qatar last year.

Wolff does not appear concerned over the threat of Red Bull stealing his ‘team leader’ stating before this season began, “I think most important is to see how George and Kimi settle in, and I see no reason at that stage of not giving them the faith and the trust of going forward.”

So a new contract is in the offing, but Toto needs to see how George settles in? Or is it how George and Kimi relate to each other that matters? Wolff’s reasoning for inaction on the contract front just does not make sense. Of course the Mercedes’ boss is still dangling the carrot of a resurgent Mercedes to once again a place of dominance when the new 2026 power unit regulations come into force.

Yet while Mercedes aced the last new set of engine rules for 2014, their unlimited budget from back then has been capped, along with the other four who are manufacturing power plants. So Mercedes are uncertain as to the pecking order which will emerge next season and even if whether the power unit is the dominant factor in an era where radical new F1 chassis will be deployed.

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Other top drivers “tied up for the long term”

De Telegraaf journalist Erik van Haren now ponders of George, “What is Mercedes going to do with him? If they were so convinced about him, and think he is a superstar, they would have extended his contract a long time ago. If you look at the other teams, you see that their top drivers are tied up for the long term.”

With strong rumours abounding that Wolff offered Verstappen €100m to Verstappen to join Mercedes, it is likely he is waiting to see how Red Bull fares with its underperforming RB21, If Max should become available, Toto will not want to miss out – so George has to wait.

Of course were Verstappen to leave Red Bull for Mercedes, then George may well be offered a reciprocal drive from Red Bull as his capabilities a top F1 driver are not in doubt. Russell for many F1 observers remains Mr. Saturday, his nickname picked up whilst at Williams. There George would hustle the Grove built car around in qualifying, often with surprising results – but come Sunday and the race, he was nowhere to be found.

Even in his time at Mercedes, Russell is a proven qualifier thrashing Lewis Hamilton 19-5 last year. Yet over their three years racing together, Russell was behind his team mate on cumulative points, despite Hamilton having the worst year of his F1 career in 2024.

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Verstappen holds all the cards

Whether he likes it or not, Russell’s F1 future is in some regards at the behest of his rival Max Verstappen. Should the world champion reject Wolff’s advances again, then another “multi-year” deal will be agreed with George. Yet another one plus one contract hardly feels as though the British driver has the full backing of Toto Wolff and the Mercedes F1 team.

With much being made of Kimi Antonelli’s debut for Mercedes, Wolff found it necessary to remind assembled media that Russell was the one with two podiums from two Grand Prix. “Little was said about George – I always said that is not right as he is one of the top drivers out there. If you want me to name three at the absolute top, he is one of those three, if not top two. And maybe on his way to top one.”

High praise indeed. Presumably Hamilton and Verstappen are the others in the group and if so why not sign Russell’s contract now, given Lewis will end his career at Ferrari? there’s just something that doesn’t stack up in terms of Wolff’s words and deeds in regard to George. If he’s that good, why does he not have a proper “multi-year” deal already?

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Why Alonso is wrong about F1 returning to V10’s

Formula One was thrown a curve ball in January this year, when the FIA president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, threw his weight behind the sport returning to more conventional engine power. This echoed suggestions made by F1’s CEO, Stefano Domenicali, who upon the announcement of the final hybrid specifications for the 2026 power units last June, admitted of the decision over future F1 powertrains was being now, the new hybrids would not be on the table.

The hybrids on the whole are hated by the drivers and the fans of F1 and their gentle rumble is a far cry from the screaming V8’s these power units replaced. Lewis Hamilton at Ferrai’s recent event in Milan gave his vision for the future of F1 power stating, “I hope that in 20 years we’ll have great races and we’ll have cars that sound good,” said the Briton.

“I certainly hope it’s not completely electric, but sustainable with V10 or V12 engines, with a zero carbon footprint or something like that,” added the seven times champion driver…. READ MORE