Russell’s Mercedes future was settled long before Verstappen’s Red Bull decision

Max Verstappen’s announcement that he would remain with Red Bull next season did not throw a spanner in Toto Wolff’s plans for his Mercedes drivers, as George Russell’s future was resolved a “long time ago”.

Although Mercedes has not put out a press release confirming Russell and Kimi Antonelli for next season, the drivers will continue at Mercedes for a third season in an unchanged line-up.

George Russell’s Mercedes contract was settled long ago

Russell was the subject of several rumours earlier this season that linked Verstappen to his Mercedes race seat.

While his teammate Antonelli recorded a five-race winning streak, Russell’s championship challenge began to unravel almost before it began. That led to speculation that his seat was on the line should Verstappen want to leave Red Bull.

Although Wolff stated several times that he saw no reason to change his line-up, the rumours continued to rumble in the background even as multiple sources told PlanetF1.com that Verstappen was speaking with McLaren.

It came to an abrupt end on the eve of the Dutch Grand Prix when Verstappen and Red Bull announced that he would not only remain with the team in F1 2027, but had also extended his contract through to 2030.

The announcement, Wolff insists, had no impact on Mercedes‘ driver plans for next season.

Asked when Mercedes will “make” Russell’s extension official, the team principal said the deal was already done long ago.

“It happened a long time ago,” he told OE24. “We just didn’t write a big statement.

“There’s really nothing more to say.”

In fact, the Verstappen rumours, which hit fever pitch last year and again this year when Wolff and Verstappen were photographed enjoying time together in Sardinia, had the Austrian laughing.

“That was completely unconscious,” he said. “In the age of social media, you can’t hide anymore anyway, and we don’t want that either. We splashed around in the water and talked.

“But it feels like someone is always swimming next to you with their cell phone, taking a photo and posting it online.

“I always find it funny what people rack their brains about.”

But while speculation was rife about Russell’s future with Mercedes, there were no doubts about his teammate Antonelli.

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The Italian replaced Russell as F1 2026’s championship leader at the Japanese Grand Prix when he recorded his second of eight Grand Prix victories.

With his advantage up to 81 points in the standings, only a disaster stands between Antonelli and a first world title.

“Kimi is a cool sock, isn’t he?” said Wolff. “He soaks up everything like a sponge, thinks everything through and processes it perfectly. It works like a computer. A lot has happened over the winter.”

“With the new regulations, everything was new for everyone,” he added. “Everyone had to get used to the track conditions with the new cars.”

It has been an incredible season for Antonelli, who only made his debut last year, when his mid-season slump had some – including former Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko – questioning whether Mercedes had made the right call promoting the teenager straight into the senior team.

Wolff said of that: “You have to give the doctor credit for saying: Kimi is an extraordinary talent, he just came to Formula 1 too early. That was still positive anyway.

“Most people didn’t understand how to put an 18-year-old in a Formula 1 car. Others said that he should be allowed to drive in a smaller team for a few years.

“When Kimi had his difficult phase and failed to score points for nine races in a row, the critics became louder and louder.

“But it is precisely such a phase that is important for personality development.”

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