Toto Wolff names two reasons for George Russell contract delay and Max Verstappen stance
Toto Wolff has explained why George Russell has yet to sign a new contract with Mercedes despite his current deal expiring in a matter of months. The situation has led to increased speculation that the Brit could be replaced by Max Verstappen if the Silver Arrows can convince the Dutchman to quit Red Bull.
Russell is out of contract at the end of the year and has always shown confidence in public that he will land an extension. However, he admitted on Thursday ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix that confirmation of a new deal before the approaching Formula 1 summer break is "unlikely".
Verstappen has been constantly linked with a move to Mercedes and has refused to state directly in public that he will remain with Red Bull in 2026. But it is understood that is his most likely course of action as it stands.
And Mercedes team principal Wolff has made it clear that he is very likely to stick with his current pairing of Russell and teenage prodigy Kimi Antonelli. "There is the largest of probabilities. Nothing is 100 percent, [but] this is going to be the line-up for next year," he told Sky Sports.
Russell was the one who sparked the rumours of a Verstappen switch several weeks ago by revealing that his team had been in contact with the Dutchman. But Wolff does not believe that his driver did so in a bid to secure his own future.
Giving two reasons why Russell has yet to put pen to paper, the Austrian said: "[The media] make a lot of pressure, because it's an interesting topic. But it's completely normal that we have these negotiations and discussions. Every driver wants a better car and more money, that's completely normal behaviour and that's not going to be the crucial point.
"He's now triggered the whole media avalanche. It's maybe naïve, but I try to be transparent with the drivers and I said to him, 'Listen, I have the obligation of exploring what Max is going to do in the next few years'. I think he just came out with it to show, 'I'm aware of what's going on, there's nothing going on behind my back and I'm fine with it'."
Russell is enjoying the strongest season of his F1 career despite all the talk around his future, built on an excellent foundation. A remarkably consistent start to the season saw him finish in the top five in the first six races of 2025, with four podiums.
Mercedes' performance has fluctuated more dramatically in recent outings, but Russell still managed a first victory of the year in Canada last month. He sits fourth in the drivers' standings with 147 points, 18 behind Verstappen in third place.
But Wolff does not believe that the speculation over Russell's future has boosted his performances, and said: "As a driver, he's so mature and stable that I don't think it makes any difference in performance. On the contrary, I would prefer him to have a safe place a little bit earlier. We haven't managed to do that, but I'm optimistic that he's going to sleep well over the summer break."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Metro
19 minutes ago
- Metro
£48m star asks to be left out of match after agreeing transfer deal with Chelsea
Jorrel Hato asked to be left out of Ajax's squad to face Como 1907 this weekend after agreeing personal terms with Chelsea, according to reports in the Netherlands. Chelsea have splashed the cash across another busy transfer window, sealing deals for Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro, Liam Delap, Dario Essugo and Mamadou Sarr for a combined fee of around £190million. Despite already strengthening at the back with the addition of Sarr from Strasbourg, the Blues have set their sights on making Hato, 19, their next signing and talks with the full-back's camp have been advancing at a pace in recent days. Hato, who is comfortable operating at both left-back and centre-back, has welcomed the interest from Chelsea and the versatile Dutchman is said to be actively pushing to force through a transfer to Stamford Bridge. But while Hato has informed Ajax that he wants to leave, the Eredivisie outfit rejected Chelsea's opening bid and sent a counter offer back to west London for the teenager. Wake up to find news on your club in your inbox every morning with Metro's Football Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your team in the link we'll send you so we can get football news tailored to you. With talks ongoing, Algemeen Dagblad report that Hato told Ajax head coach John Heitinga that he would 'rather not play' in the side's Como Cup final defeat to Como on Sunday. It's claimed this is 'entirely related' to his potential move to Chelsea, though 'that doesn't say anything about the status of negotiations, which are currently difficult'. Hato was also absent for Ajax's semi-final win over Celtic earlier in the week. However, Heitinga insisted this was because the defender was yet to gain full match fitness having only recently returned to training. Ajax are said to be holding out for a fee of between €55-60million (£48-52.5m) for Hato, who still has three years remaining on his current contract in Amsterdam. Speaking to De Telegraaf on Wednesday, Hato's agent, Humphry Nijman confirmed that Chelsea had opened discussions to close a deal for last term's Eredivisie Talent of the Season. 'Yes, the club [Chelsea] have contacted Ajax,' he told the Dutch newspaper. Hato featured 50 times for Ajax across the 2024/25 campaign and played a key role as the club narrowly missed out on the Eredivisie title after finishing just one point behind PSV Eindhoven. In an interview with Ajax's official website last month, Hato outlined the goals and ambitions he hoped to fulfil in his career. At the time, the Netherlands international was keen to stress that he felt at 'home' at Ajax. 'The smartest thing is to look ahead to pre-season, that's what I do,' Hato said. 'Of course you want to achieve things in the end: the Champions League, a World Cup and a European Championship, I still have plenty of time. I don't think I absolutely have to win the Champions League in two years. 'In the Dutch league, you have to show how good you are against the big clubs. Ultimately, I have to continue to develop the things I am already good at, so that it becomes top. 'How do I describe my time at Ajax? Ajax is home for me. I just feel at home here.' For more stories like this, check our sport page. Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. MORE: Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak rejects £96m transfer offer after Liverpool talks MORE: William Saliba provides major update on Arsenal future amid fresh Real Madrid transfer links MORE: Ruben Amorim explains why Man Utd fans must wait for Bryan Mbeumo debut
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Max Verstappen condemns delayed Belgian Grand Prix start amid wet weather
Max Verstappen condemned as unnecessary the FIA decision to delay the start of the Belgian Grand Prix because of adverse weather conditions, but his view was countered by George Russell, a director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association, who insisted any other call from the governing body would have been 'stupidity' given the conditions and the dangerous nature of the Spa‑Francorchamps circuit. The start was delayed by an hour and 20 minutes after rain swept into Spa just before the race. The FIA opted not to proceed after one formation lap because the visibility given the spray from the cars was so poor. The circuit is enormously fast and challenging and can be dangerous even in good conditions. There have been two fatalities in recent years, Anthoine Hubert in 2019 and Dilano van 't Hoff in 2023. Verstappen, whose Red Bull car had been readied to make the most of a wet race, was insistent that the drivers could have coped and that as they began racing they would have been able to clear the standing water. When asked when he believed the race should have begun, he said: 'Three o'clock, straight away. It was not even raining. Between turn one and five there was quite a bit of water but if you do two or three laps behind the safety car, then it would have been a lot more clear, and the rest of the track was ready to go.' The Dutchman, who finished fourth in the race won by McLaren's Oscar Piastri, concluded with a swipe at the FIA. 'Of course at the end of the day they do what they want, right? I mean, they decide. I just find it is a bit of a shame for everyone, you will never see these classic kind of wet races any more.' Russell, however, was among other drivers – including Piastri and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc – who felt the decision had been correct. 'As a racer, you always want to get going, you love driving in the rain,' he said. 'But the fact is, when you're doing over 200 miles an hour out of Eau Rouge, you literally cannot see anything, you may as well have a blindfold on. [That] isn't racing; it's just stupidity. Considering it was clearly going to be dry from 4pm onwards, they made the right call.' Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion Verstappen's view, though, was echoed by Lewis Hamilton, who started 18th but finished seventh after he called the moment to change over to slick tyres perfectly, given the track had dried very quickly. 'I would agree [with Verstappen],' he said. 'My car was set up for that [wet conditions], and they waited for it to dry. Especially at the end, it was a dry line with hardly any spray.'
Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Telegraph
Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton frustrated by ‘extreme' Spa rain call
On Thursday evening in the Ardennes hundreds of team members from various series, drivers, journalists and assorted others gathered on the track at Spa-Francorchamps to 'Run for Anthoine'. The annual event is organised by the Alpine driver Pierre Gasly in memory of his close friend Anthoine Hubert, who died in 2019, at the age of just 22, after a multi-car collision in a wet feature Formula 2 race at Spa. Hubert is far from the only driver to lose his life at the notoriously fast circuit, which is frequently subject to torrential rain. Just four years after his death, Dutch teenager Dilano van 't Hoff was also killed in similar wet conditions. In total there have been 53 fatalities, including the deaths of four marshals, since Spa's opening in 1924. All of which goes a long way to explaining why race control erred on the side of caution when weighing up when to pull the trigger on Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix, which was immediately preceded by torrential rain. To call that caution excessive, however, would be an understatement. For the thousands of bedraggled fans watching from the grandstands, most of whom camp close by in the days leading up to the race, the delay was hugely frustrating. Earlier, they had watched a very entertaining F2 race in similarly damp conditions. Everyone was excited by the prospect of witnessing the world's best drivers try to negotiate the treacherous Spa circuit in the wet. Millions more watching on television probably gave up and went and did something else. The Fagnes chicane proved to be a challenge in our Feature Race at Spa! 👀 #F2 #BelgianGP — Formula 2 (@Formula2) July 27, 2025 It was not a bad call. In the end, what we got was a pretty dull affair. By the time the race finally got under way, behind a safety car, 1hr 20min after the official start time, the track was rapidly drying. Race control still left the safety car out for four laps to clear more of the standing water, with the result that there was a dry line already visible. Race-winner Oscar Piastri needed just four race laps to consider switching to dry tyres and within eight laps of actual racing all the drivers were on slicks, and from then on it was processional. What did the drivers think? Both Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, who have 11 F1 world titles between them, were firmly of the opinion that the race could have started on time at 3pm. 'It was not even raining by then,' Verstappen pointed out. 'OK there was quite a bit of [standing] water between Turns 1 and 5, but two laps behind the safety car then it would have been a lot more clear. So it's a bit of a shame. 'We [Red Bull] made a choice with the set-up for wet weather and then they only allowed us to drive in almost slick conditions! We spoke after [the recent wet-weather race at] Silverstone to be a little bit cautious with the decisions but this was at the other extreme for me.' Hamilton agreed the race could have started on time, although he did say the drivers had to take some of the responsibility following those post-Silverstone chats. Race control was listening to the drivers' feedback as they lapped behind the safety car and nearly all of them, especially those at the back, were complaining it was unsafe. 'Lots of drivers in the last race said we shouldn't have restarted, because of a lack of visibility. So as soon as someone said 'visibility is pretty bad'...it wasn't great but it wasn't as bad as the last race… I think they just waited. 'They still did a good job. Of course we did miss some of the extreme wet-weather racing, which would have been nice.' Fans short-changed No one is saying it is an easy call. Spa is a notoriously dangerous circuit, with an extremely dangerous section between T1 (La Source) and T7 (Les Combes). The drivers go through a compression at Eau Rouge and then up a steep incline on the other side, exiting onto a blind crest onto the Kemmel Straight. Although changes were made following Hubert's death, and there is now more run-off on the left-hand side of Eau Rouge and Raidillon in particular, with the barriers moved back quite significantly, it is still possible for cars to go off, hit the barrier and bounce back onto the racing line. George Russell was probably in the majority of drivers who felt race control got it right. The Mercedes driver, who is a director of the Grand Prix Drivers Association, said it would have been 'stupidity' to begin the race any earlier. 'As a racer, you always want to get going, you love driving in the rain, but the fact is, when you're doing over 200 miles an hour out of Eau Rouge, you literally can't see anything,' Russell said. 'You may as well have a blindfold on. It isn't racing, it's just stupidity. 'So I think, considering it was clearly going to be dry from four o'clock onwards, I think they made the right call.' But an element of danger and risk is also part and parcel of Formula One. Fans were denied what could have been an exciting race on Sunday. If the Spa circuit needs further modifications to make it safer, fine, but they surely ought to be able to race in the wet. Ex-driver Karun Chandhok spoke for millions when he posted on social media a few minutes before the restart: 'Have we just given up on having wet races anymore? They're going to be on slicks in a few minutes!' He was absolutely right.
