George Russell has made it clear that he is not rushing into a new contract with Mercedes, insisting that his F1 performance remains his primary focus. With his current deal set to expire at the end of 2025, speculation continues over when Mercedes might secure the Briton’s services for the longer term. Yet, despite recent success in Montreal, Russell appears content to let the process unfold at its own pace.
During Thursday’s media day ahead of the 2025 F1 Austrian GP, journalists quizzed Russell about his contract talks with Team Principal Toto Wolff. His response reflected both humour and calm self-assurance.
“You’re asking the wrong person, to be honest!” he laughed. “Don’t know.”
When pressed further, he offered a measured update. “Yeah, a little bit. No major updates as yet. 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.”
A mutual relationship between Russell and Mercedes
Russell’s recent victory in the 2025 F1 Canadian GP marked Mercedes’ first win of the season and further strengthened his position within the team. However, he believes that his broader contribution over the past seasons speaks for itself.
“I don’t need to chase because I feel that I’m doing a good job,” he said.
Russell made clear that the relationship between himself and the team functions both ways. He sees value not just in his own performance, but in the shared ambition to return Mercedes to the top of F1.
“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 also revealed that Wolff has already offered high praise regarding his form this season.
“Toto has made it clear to me that he thinks how I’m performing this year is as good as anybody. 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.”
Canadian GP performance “a bit of a one-off”
Despite his commanding performance in Canada—where he took both pole position and race victory—Russell cautioned against viewing the weekend as a turning point for Mercedes. He attributed the result more to favourable conditions than to a fundamental step forward.
“I think the performance of Canada was definitely a bit of a one-off,” he admitted.
Russell elaborated on the characteristics that allowed the W15 to shine at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, pointing to the track’s low-speed corners and smooth surface as ideal for managing tyre temperatures.
“We were on pole last year in Canada, we probably should have won the race, and our car performs really well when the tyres are not overheating, so on tracks where it’s low-speed corners, where it’s smooth tarmac, hopefully when the temperature is down.“
In contrast, he remained realistic about expectations for the upcoming races, including the Austrian GP.
“At fast circuit tracks where it’s hot, like Barcelona, like Imola, probably here [in Austria], it’s not so good.”
Russell eyeing F1 future
While Mercedes continues to evaluate its long-term plans, Russell appears unfazed by external speculation. His focus remains on maximising performance in the short term, while quietly building a case for an extended future at Brackley.
As Mercedes searches for consistency and a return to title contention, Russell’s composed approach and recent success suggest he will remain central to the team’s journey—whether or not the ink is dry on his next contract.
