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With the 2025 Formula One season nearing its halfway point, uncertainty is growing around which teams several of the sport’s most popular and highest-paid drivers will compete for in 2026.
Mercedes is openly pursuing Max Verstappen, who is under contract with Red Bull through 2028. The contracts of both Mercedes drivers, George Russell and his 18-year-old teammate Kimi Antonelli, expire after this season.
“As a team principal responsible for the best car brand in the world it is clear you’re exploring what a four-time world champion is going to do in the future, and that could be a long time in the future,” Mercedes principal Toto Wolff told Sky Sports on Friday. “But that has no effect on us putting a signature on George’s contract.”
Wolff’s comments came after Russell on Thursday sparked new discord by first revealing Mercedes is in discussions with Verstappen.
“As Mercedes, they want to be back on top, and if you’re going to be back on top, you need to make sure you’ve got the best drivers, the best engineers, the best pit crew, and that’s what Mercedes are chasing,” Russell told Sky Sports. “So, it’s only normal that conversations with the likes of Verstappen are ongoing. But from my side, if I’m performing as I’m doing, what have I got to be concerned about? There are two seats in every Formula 1 team.”
Wolff added, “These drivers are clever people and they talk to each other. I’m always open about these things, and I’m saying it how it is and there’s no such thing as saying, ‘We are going to sign Max,’ because it’s so far away that it’s not realistic at that stage. So with George, we talk about everything.”
State of Play
Mercedes heads into this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix in a distant second place in the constructors’ standings behind grid leader McLaren. Russell is fourth in the drivers’ standings and Antonelli is seventh.
During his media session with reporters Thursday, Russell expanded on Wolff’s strategy for a 2026 lineup: “I guess he needs to think, who are those two drivers going to be for those two seats, and I guess that’s what the delay is.” Wolff first expressed interest in trying to sign Verstappen away from Red Bull during a scene on the most recent season of Netflix’s Drive to Survive, which recapped the 2024 F1 season.
Russell, 27, is set to earn $23 million from his Mercedes salary and bonuses this season, according to multiple reports. But he could be in line for a major raise in his next contract, given his improving performance. Verstappen tops all F1 drivers with $75 million in reported earnings this year, and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton is at $70 million.
Verstappen didn’t want to talk about Russell’s claims when asked by reporters Thursday. “I’ve had that question before as well in my life. I don’t think we need to talk about that. You want me to repeat what I said last year? Again, it’s not really in my mind. I’m just driving, trying to push the performance, and then we focus on next year.”
Beyond a potential Mercedes move, Verstappen earlier this year was linked to a potential three-year, $300 million deal to drive for Aston Martin’s F1 team.
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