Lewis Hamilton’s decision to leave Mercedes has robbed F1 of an enduring bi-annual season log event. Contract negotiations between the Brackley based squad and the seven times world champion filled the back pages of the printed media for month after month in the year Hamilton was to become out of contract.
His final deal with the silver arrows team was expected to be a shoe in with Toto Wolff claiming come pre-season testing in 2023, the reason ink had not been penned on the dotted line was due to the fact he and Lewis had been on “different continents” during the winter break.
In March of the same year, a mysterious report emerged from the US that Hamilton was in fact expecting a long term driving contract together with a role as an ambassador for Mercedes lasting ten years. The total deal was predicted in the region of half a billion dollars.
Mercedes negotiating with Hamilton crumbled
As the season rolled on, no announcement was forthcoming from both parties and rumours persisted that all was not well back in Stuttgart, Germany. In a vain attempt to quell the speculation, Wolff told Channel 4’s David Coulthard in Singapore that “just last week we sat down and he says ‘look, I have another five years in me, how do you see that?’”
Yet the response from the Mercedes boss failed to address Hamilton’s expectations as his final agreement penned late in 2024, which turned out to be just a one year guaranteed deal with his team. Of course it was presented as a multi-year contract and in fact there was an option for either party to extend it into this season, but that’s like saying ‘I’ve bought this ageing car at a good price and I may keep it for more than just one year.’
It was telling there was no ambassador deal coming from Germany as the feeling was that Lewis was a marmite character and his sell by date even for marketing purposes was certainly not a decade away. Hamilton displayed his disdain by just months later declaring he was off to Ferrari and the long F1 divorce of 2024 was under way.
Amongst the top F1 teams, Mercedes have always remained the most nimble in terms of their commitment to their drivers with these one plus one year contracts being pretty much the norm. George Russell and Mercedes extended his deal for this year to mitigate the disruption of Hamilton leaving the team and its now all eyes on how and when George and Toto get a new deal done which will see them into 2026 and beyond.
Report: Newey wasn’t the secret of Red Bull’s recent success
Russell suggests F1 driver market may be upended
So in terms of Mercedes past record, its fairly normal for them to have two drivers who are out of contract come the end of the current F1 season. Yet there are uncertain noises emanating from Backely which appear to be making the new Brit boy lead driver of the team somewhat nervous.
Almost feeling the need to justify his uncertain future, Russell claims it is the norm that Mercedes do not even begin notations with their drivers before the F1 summer break. “When Lewis was here, they never discussed the contract prior to June (or) July,” Russell told The Athletic. “It was always the summer, the abnormal part is probably [now is] how many drivers have signed so early [on long contracts].”
This is a very different picture than was painted by Toto Wolff at the start of 2023, when he suggested all that was required between Lewis and himself was time alone in a room together and a few hours of “wrestling” and “hammering things out” to reach an agreement.
Russell’s observation of how the other top teams have gone about dealing with their drivers may well be a bone of contention for the British driver given both McLaren drivers who signed new contracts last season are guaranteed their futures until at least the end of 2026.
Mercedes defeated in 2026 engine row
Who will not be performing
Max Verstappen is on a Red Bull contract which was signed back in 2023 and runs until 2028 and Ferrari have promised Lewis at least two seasons of driving with Leclerc on a promise he is the long term future of the iconic Italian F1 team. Why Russell needs to question his colleagues who have accepted long commitments from their teams is a question for George to answer, but he continues as if on message that no deal is worth the paper its written on unless the driver performs to or above expectations.
“I feel a lot of drivers who are so fixated on trying to secure their futures are maybe ones who don’t have as much self-belief in themselves and feel the need to have that security.
“The fact is, if you have a contract and you don’t perform, the team finds a way of getting rid of you. Performance is our only currency. And if you perform, the rest sorts itself out. When people aren’t satisfied, people want change, so let’s see next year. I think it’ll be an interesting summer.”
From this comment Russell may believe that his ex-team mate’s arrangement with Ferrari is not as nailed on as it has been presented, then again Toto Wolff’s public obsession with luring Max Verstappen last year could yet be playing on his mind. The Mercedes boss claimed recently he is no longer interested in signing the current world champion stating this month: “At the moment, where it is with George and Kimi, there’s no doubt to question that set up for the future,” he said.
Mercedes make all their drivers wait
Wolff added that the contract talks with his current driver line up wold begin once the European season is under way. ”I always say that I don’t flirt in the street when I’m happy in a relationship. I am super happy with the lineup we have – I couldn’t wish for anything better. Max is at Red Bull and at Mercedes we are continuing our journey.”
Yet as George Russell observed, this summer may yet become “interesting” in terms of the F1 driver market and he himself made no reference to a long term future with Mercedes as well he may have been expected to do so.
For many Mercedes suffered the ignominy of having their star driver break his multi-year deal with the team, yet as the long divorce continued in 2024, Wolff did suggests Hamilton mad have in fact done him a favour by quitting for Ferrari. In his book ‘Inside Mercedes F1: Life in the fast lane” Wolff pragmatically refereed to the fact that every F1 driver has a “shelf life” and that “I like the situation [of Hamilton quitting Mercedes] – it helps us because it avoids the moment where we need to tell the sport’s most iconic driver that we want to stop.”
Mercedes are currently second only to the resurgent McLaren team and George Russell is by a long way the ‘best of the rest’ behind Piastri, Norris and Verstappen. Yet the uncertainty over Hamilton’s future after a shockingly poor start with Ferrari, together with the persistent rumours Verstappen may yet become available for next year, leave the Brit wondering if in fact there may be opportunities elsewhere as mercedes play the risky game of ‘wait and see.’
Verstappen radio message controversy rolls on
Mohammed Ben Sulayem and Max Verstappen were seen in close but a brief conversation following his second place in the 2025 Saudi Arabia Grand Prix. A number of F1 media outlets reported the discussion had been hers, following the world champion being issued a five second time penalty by the FIA appointed stewards which cost him the race win.
During the Grand Prix, Max’s race engineer informed him of the five second penalty, to which the FOM broadcast played his response with a bleep. It was assumed Verstappen had sworn, something Ben Sulayem is seeking to clamp down on, although in reality the Red Bull driver had said, “thats bloody lovely,” and not used the dreaded F-bomb.
Clearly the drama was enhanced by FOM TV cresting the impression Verstappen had used foul language. Bizarrely, the wearing rules are now defined as only for those occasions when a driver is in an official FIA approved media event. So swearing in the cockpit is allowed and the drivers called on FOM TV to bleep out this profanities if the viewers were genuinely upset bye their outbursts…. READ MORE
The Judge, a nom de plume of an experienced F1 journalist and site founder with long-standing sources across the paddock. With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
