Motor racing-Mercedes aiming to keep Russell and Antonelli next season
(Reuters) -George Russell and Kimi Antonelli are Mercedes' first choice for next season, team boss Toto Wolff said in comments appearing to rule out an immediate move for Red Bull's four-time Formula One champion Max Verstappen.
Verstappen is third overall at the midpoint of the 24-round campaign, 69 points behind McLaren's overall leader Oscar Piastri and 61 adrift of the Australian's British teammate Lando Norris.
The Dutch driver's dream of a fifth successive title is disappearing and, with a new engine era starting in 2026 and the Mercedes power unit expected to be the pick of the field, there has been talk of Verstappen switching.
That speculation was put in even sharper focus after Red Bull sacked long-serving team boss Christian Horner this month, with Laurent Mekies in charge at this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix.
Russell's contract expires at the end of the season, although he is also managed by Mercedes, while 18-year-old rookie Antonelli only joined this year and is a big talent for the future.
"The direction of travel is that we want to continue with George and Kimi. That is the first priority," Wolff told Austria's ORF television on Wednesday.
"You can't look past someone like Max and the plans he has for the future. We did that, but I don't think there will be any big surprises."
ORF said that while Verstappen had performance clauses, he would have needed to be outside the top three after Silverstone to trigger his contract release.
Social media lit up this month after Wolff and Verstappen were reported to be on vacation at the same time and in the same area of Sardinia, but the Mercedes boss dismissed any significance in that.
"If you go on holiday close to each other, it doesn't mean that you are also going to work together in Formula One," he said.
"We have always got along well. We also happen to vacation in similar areas."
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in Spa-Francorchamps, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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