Russell pushes Mercedes for Verstappen decision as contract talks drag on

George Russell has opened up on his contract talks with Mercedes, pushing the F1 team to put 'pen on paper' amid talks of a Max Verstappen swoop.

Both Russell and his team-mate Kimi Antonelli are currently due to be out of contract at the end of the 2025 season, but their brilliant performances have led to a wide belief that they will be handed new contracts by the Brackley outfit.

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However, new contracts have not yet been signed, and as F1 heads into the European summer leg of the season, that has led to speculation that Mercedes could be pursuing other options.

Enter Verstappen, whose future at Red Bull beyond the end of this season has already been described by Helmut Marko as being of 'great concern', despite a contract that ties him to Red Bull until 2028.

Rumours have been circling the paddock that Toto Wolff and Mercedes could be planning a swoop for the four-time world champion, and talks have been confirmed to have taken place between the two camps.

Now, Russell has provided an update on his contract situation, and explained why there has been a delay in the signing of his new deal.

"No major updates as yet," the Brit told media ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix weekend.

"It's not something that I'm pressing massively because, as I've always said, the performance is the priority, and I feel with the performance I'm showing at the moment - still in line with the performance I've shown over all these years - I've got zero reasons to be worried. But obviously it does help if there was pen on paper.

"I don't need to chase because I feel that I'm doing a good job,” Russell continued. "It goes both ways - I need them, they need me and that's how it goes. Mercedes are so ambitious, they want to be back on top.

"They need to understand and think how are they going to bring Mercedes back on top. You need to have the best team principal, you need to have the best drivers in your car, you need to have the best engineers within your team."

Russell or Verstappen for Wolff?

Given their recent fierce rivalry, and the undoubted exceptional talent of 18-year-old Antonelli, it is highly unlikely that Mercedes would want Russell and Verstappen alongside each other as team-mates.

Therefore, it is a decision between Russell - who has claimed one race victory and four further podiums already in 2025 - and Verstappen, largely regarded to be the greatest driver of his generation.

Team principal Toto Wolff is a big fan of Verstappen and is desperately trying to get Mercedes back into championship-winning contention after three years on the periphery.

Rumours suggest that Mercedes are in the best shape to take advantage of wholesale regulation changes that are entering the sport next season; something that would likely be attractive to Verstappen as his Red Bull team struggles to provide him with a car capable of challenging for regular race victories.

"Toto has made it clear to me that he thinks how I'm performing this year is as good as anybody," Russell continued on defiantly in his interview. "I think there's only one driver that you can debate in terms of performance, these are his words not my words.

"So that's why I have no concern about the future, but there's two seats to every team and I guess he needs to think who are those two drivers going to be for those two seats. I guess that's what the delay is."

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