The drama of the Mercedes Formula One team and its driver contract protracted negotiations is once again coming to the fore. Two years ago it was Hamilton and Russell who were forced to wait until late in the season, before their new deals were confirmed.
The result was the dreaded “one plus one” deal announced as a “multi-year contract” yet clearly behind the scenes Hamilton was unhappy with Mercedes lack of commitment to him. Within weeks he had agreed a deal to move to Ferrari after the only season guaranteed by Mercedes.
Lewis had made it clear he wished to finish his career with the Mercedes team, but the deal offered by Toto Wolff was a slap in the face. Now George Russell finds himself in a similar position despite being the driver who has collected around 75% of the team’s total points haul in 2025. Big hope Kimi Antonelli has failed to live up to his star billing and needs another year with the team to prove he has got what it takes.
Mercedes drag out contract negotiations
With few options for next year besides its current driver lineup, Mercedes and Wolff are once again playing the long game in terms of dragging out the negotiations with Russell and Antonelli. George has been under threat for almost a year that Max Verstappen could be replacing him at the silver arrows although at the Hungarian Grand Prix, the world champion confirmed he will remain with Red Bull for 2026.
Having been forced to wait during the first half of the season, Russell insisted he would wait for the right contract rather than sign the current offer on the table. With Verstappen now unavailable to Mercedes, the balance of power should have shifted in Russell’s favour.
Yet this weekend in Monza, Wolff once again made it clear there was no deal available which guarantees his best driver more than a single season longer with the team. With no other top team available to the British driver it appears his desire for a genuine multi-year deal will be dashed.
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Wolff confirms ‘short’ contract fr Russell
In Monza Toto confirmed the contract extensions at Mercedes rarely run long, as he clearly hopes to attract Verstappen following the big regulation changes coming for 2026. Paddock whispers have intensified in recent weeks that there are tensions within the team over the contract length on offer.
“There won’t be a big announcement about his contract, because it’s logical that we’ll extend it,” Wolff said. Facing up to the elephant in the room, Toto was candid: “We haven’t given very long contracts in the past and have kept them shorter. The longest we’ve ever given is two years, with an option. That’s a kind of Mercedes pattern.
“We were on a one-plus-one deal. That’s what we’ve always done. The drivers are under a lot of pressure, but if a driver says they’re faster on a two-year deal, that’s not the right approach.”
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Toto admits Mercedes mistake
Wolff is clearly moving the conversation into the public domain in what appears to be like a ‘take it or leave it’ warning to George Russell. The problem for him is that the remaining teams capable of winning races are tied in with the drivers for the linger term. Of course if Verstappen were to replace him at Mercedes for 2027, there would be a seat available with Red Bull Racing – but there’s no guarantees.
Kimi Antonelli remains under pressure to justify Mercedes’ faith. A year on from his FP1 debut at Monza – which ended in a high-speed crash – the Italian again spun into the gravel during Friday practice at the same circuit.
Wolff admitted that the team may have built up Antonelli too quickly. “He got in a Formula 1 car, drove a lap where everyone in the first two sectors called him a mini-Jesus, and then parked the car in the wall,” Wolff recalled of Monza 2024. “That happens, but it was probably a mistake from us. Maybe we’ve had more moments than expected where we wanted to tear our hair out, but we remain committed to Kimi.”
Villeneuve slams Antonelli
Mercedes communications chief Bradley Lord added that Antonelli’s confidence took a major hit earlier this season. “Unfortunately, with the modified rear suspension, he definitely lost confidence and trust in the car. And then, of course, it takes time for him to rebuild that,” Lord told Sky Germany. “The ingredients are there, we’re seeing some very strong moments. But at the moment, we’re just not managing to put everything together.”
Jacques Villeneuve was highly critical of the Italian rookie in Zandvoort after he took out Charles Leclerc with a daring attempt at the low line in turn three during the race. He lost control of the car, sliding up the track and taking out the Ferrari for which he received a ten second time penalty from the stewards.
“Very poor. A move that you might see in Formula 4, Formula 3, from a driver who doesn’t have experience and just not calculated the way it should be,” Jacques explained to Sky Sports F1.
“When you’re in F1, you’ll make mistakes, you drive too hard, you’re on the limit, but that was not even that. It was just badly calculated. He shouldn’t have done that. And then he got all riled up and [exceeded the] speed limit as well. Maybe F1 is just too much for him.”
The “mini-Jesus”
Mercedes’ “pattern” of short contracts is less about a lack of loyalty and more about keeping their Tinder profile open for Verstappen in 2027. Russell may well deserve security, but Wolff prefers to keep the driver market on speed dial. If Max so much as sneezes in Milton Keynes, Mercedes will have a pen waiting.
As for Antonelli, the “mini-Jesus” tag from Monza 2024 looks increasingly like a curse. One year later he is still finding gravel faster than apexes, while Mercedes insist their faith in him remains. The Austrian boss may claim he only wants to “tear his hair out” occasionally, but with every spin that greying coiffure must look a little thinner.
Bradley Lord’s admission that Antonelli lost faith with the car after the rear suspension change sums it up neatly: belief is easy when you’re being called a messiah, harder when you’re fighting the stopwatch and the doubters. Talent alone is not enough in Formula One, now consistency is required for Antonelli although it seems Mercedes will give him another year regardless.
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Sergio Perez will return to the Formula One grid for his sixteenth season of racing since his debut in 2011 for Sauber. His big break came following the announcement in 2012 that Lewis Hamilton was leaving the McLaren team for Mercedes and Checo was recruited as his replacement.
Perez quickly developed a reputation for aggressive driving with his team mate Jenson Button criticising his race craft after the 2013 Bahrain Grand Prix. “I’ve raced with many team-mates over the years and with quite an aggressive team-mate in Lewis, but I’m not used to driving down the straight and then my team-mate coming along and wiggling his wheels at me and banging wheels with me at 300km/h. I’ve had some tough fights in F1 but not quite as dirty as that. “
His McLaren career lasted just one season and the Mexican driver left to join the Silverstone based Force India team for 2014. Yet it was following the announcement he would be leaving the team at the end of the 2020 season, when he claimed his maiden F1 victory in the Sakhir Grand Prix in Bahrain…. READ MORE
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