Toto Wolff responds after ‘conflicting’ George Russell Mercedes future admission

Toto Wolff has claimed that Mercedes drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli should “cope” with the pressure of F1 during ongoing discussions about their futures.

The statement comes after Russell pointed out that “these past months have not been the most reassuring for our future.”

Toto Wolff responds to George Russell ‘conflicting’ claim

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Much of the F1 2026 grid has been settled, but Mercedes has yet to confirm its F1 2026 driver lineup.

While drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli are both expected to ink renewals with the German marque, that neither has been officially confirmed has generated plenty of speculation regarding the team’s 2026 pairing.

Notably, Max Verstappen was linked to the team, but the driver confirmed before summer break that he remains committed to Red Bull Racing.

But that hasn’t resulted in an immediate contract offer for Mercedes’ current drivers, even as Toto Wolff told C4 that “It was always very clear that, you know, that that was the direction to go” after the Hungarian Grand Prix.

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The lack of a contract has been perplexing for Antonelli and Russell. The Italian rookie has had a challenging stretch during F1’s European Grands Prix, while Russell’s performance also dipped following an ill-fated suspension upgrade.

After Hungary, Russell explained to media, including PlanetF1.com, that Mercedes “ultimately hold the cars because of the situation we find ourselves in with the sort of management agreement.

“So they’ve had no rush to sign Kimi or I, because we’ve got sort of this longer term overriding deal in place.”

While Russell clarified that he “never feared losing his seat,” he did note that he’s found himself in a “unique situation where I don’t have a huge power in that sort of agreement, and maybe the interests were not aligned for some time, which, of course, puts me at risk for these last six months, but then it was my job to perform and reduce that risk.”

He concluded, “For both Kimi and I, these past months have not been the most assuring of our future, and that’s just been a bit conflicting.”

C4 pressed Wolff on the pressure this lack of a contract has put his drivers under, but the Mercedes boss wasn’t particularly sympathetic.

“I think I see it from two sides,” Wolff explained.

“The first is, they’re professional drivers, the best of the best in Formula 1.

“Pressure is the name of the game, and you’ve got to think that we are having pressure that is enormous. I have that every day. I wake up with pressure, I go to bed with pressure, and you just need to cope with it.

“But then on the other side, of course, for drivers, it’s not ideal, the permanent chatter in the media about Verstappen. And that’s certainly not the best preparation you can have.

“But I would have a Christmas wish is, it would also [have] less pressure. But it doesn’t go away in Formula 1.”

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