Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has confirmed that contract negotiations with George Russell for the 2026 Formula 1 season are nearing completion. However, in true Wolff fashion, they are not quite finished yet. “We’re super close. Something like that,’ he told Sky Sports F1 during the Singapore Grand Prix weekend, offering the kind of cryptic optimism that has become a trademark of Toto’s, half reassurance, half cliffhanger.
Russell secured a sensational pole position in Singapore on Saturday, his second of the 2025 season after Canada, and he currently sits fourth in the drivers’ standings with 212 points. The Briton has been one of the few bright sparks in Mercedes’ turbulent post-Hamilton era, combining speed, consistency and diplomacy in equal measure. However, his current contract expires at the end of this season, leaving Mercedes with an awkward issue to resolve before the new era begins in 2026.
After quietly shelving its improbable flirtation with four-time world champion Max Verstappen earlier in the year, Mercedes’ attention has turned back to securing the future of its existing line-up: Russell and rookie sensation Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Wolff has all but confirmed that the young Italian will remain with the team beyond 2025, hinting that the long-term plan is stability, something that Mercedes has sorely lacked since the peak of its dominance.
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The unique Russell dynamic
Russell’s relationship with Mercedes is a curious one, shaped by both opportunity and dependency. The team didn’t just sign him as a driver; it nurtured and managed him throughout his journey to Formula 1. For years, that dual role worked seamlessly.
“Throughout my career up until last year, the team supported me enormously and gave me great opportunities,” Russell explained before the Hungarian Grand Prix. “Our goals were always aligned. What was in the team’s best interest was also in my best interest.”
However, as the 26-year-old now admits, the dynamic has become more complicated.
“Over the past six months, I haven’t had much influence, and perhaps our interests haven’t been entirely aligned,” he revealed. “That’s created a certain risk for me, but my job is to mitigate that risk through performance.”
Nevertheless, despite the occasional boardroom intrigue, Russell has managed to maintain his performance levels. A victory in Canada and a series of podium finishes have reminded everyone why Mercedes built its long-term strategy around him. Alongside Max Verstappen, who remains Red Bull’s lone bright spot in a turbulent season, Russell is one of only two non-McLaren drivers to win a race in 2025. This is proof that his talent can still cut through the papaya dominance.
Faith and frustration
Even with uncertainty hanging in the air, Russell insists he still trusts the system.
“I don’t want it to get to the point where I have to take my career into my own hands,” he said, though this sounded more like a warning than a declaration.
“I continue to trust Toto and the team to support me as long as I perform to my potential. That’s what I’m focused on.”
However, behind his calm exterior lies a tension that will be familiar to anyone who has watched Mercedes since the Hamilton era ended.
‘The past few months haven’t been the most reassuring for Kimi and me regarding our future,” Russell added.
‘Things have been somewhat contradictory at times.” In other words, the left hand doesn’t always know what the Toto hand is doing.
A little satire among the silver
The situation echoes Mercedes’ recent seasons: they are always on the brink of something spectacular, but the brink itself moves slightly further away with each race. They came very close to winning in Monaco, came very close to catching up with McLaren in Austria, and are now very close to finalising Russell’s deal. The team might consider adopting it as a slogan: “Mercedes: Super Close Since 2022”.
Nevertheless, the performances on track speak volumes, despite all the bureaucratic theatre. Russell’s ability to remain calm under pressure and his determination to achieve more than the car’s capabilities have quietly restored some pride to the Brackley outfit.
His ability to secure pole positions and podium finishes in a season dominated by McLaren’s orange cars and Verstappen’s brilliance shows that Mercedes’ raw potential hasn’t completely evaporated, it’s just been misfiled under ‘pending approval’.
As 2026 approaches, Wolff’s balancing act becomes increasingly delicate: he must nurture Antonelli, retain Russell and somehow rediscover the winning formula. Yet if there’s one thing Mercedes has mastered, it’s staying ‘super close’ to success, just close enough to keep everyone guessing. For now, the paddock waits for Wolff’s next linguistic masterpiece. Perhaps in Japan he’ll say they’re ‘basically there’, or in Austin, ‘nearly official’.
Until then, the Silver Arrows will remain in their natural state, on the verge of something brilliant, or at least brilliantly delayed.
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Singapore has not been a happy hunting ground for Max or the team in previous years and in Red Bull’s record breaking 2023 season, it was in the city state where their perfect record of wins in the year was broken.
The Marina Bay Circuit is the only venue on the current F1 calendar of 24 races where Verstappen has neither claimed pole nor won the race. Last year at the night race in central Asia, Verstappen was beaten to pole by Lando Norris but came home second in the Grand Prix on Sunday which has been won from pole on ten of the fifteen runnings of the event…READ MORE ON THIS STORY
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