George Russell drops hint about Mercedes future amid Aston Martin claim

George Russell has dropped a major hint that he will still be a Mercedes F1 driver next year.

The Briton is the highest profile F1 driver without a contract for 2026 and is yet to sign a new deal with Mercedes despite his impressive start to the 2025 season which sees him sit fourth in the championship behind only the McLaren duo and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has suggested that a new contract for Russell will happen, as well as continually batting away the prospect of trying to lure Verstappen to the Silver Arrows.

But as long as a contract goes unsigned, rumours about Russell’s future will not go away, with a recent report by The Times claiming that Aston Martin are interested in the three-time grand prix winner.

Speaking in an interview with Motorsport-Total, Russell appeared to let slip that he will remain at Mercedes next year when he said “this is now my fourth year at Mercedes, next year will be my fifth”.

When the interviewer injertegcted to ask: “Is that certain?”, Russell replied: “No, it’s not certain. Nothing is certain.

“But if I stay with Mercedes, next year will be my fifth year with the team. Nobody knows when their time will come. You just have to make sure that you keep performing consistently, keep delivering.

“And what happens then - only time will tell.”

What Mercedes have said

Wolff has indicated that Russell signing a new deal with Mercedes is a formality and something he intends to happen before the summer break in August.

Asked if confirmation could drag on until the end of the summer, Wolff stated: “No, definitely not that long.

"George and I are totally clear on how this is going to go and 100 per cent alignment. There is no such thing as dragging this on because that's not what we do."

Mercedes chief communications officer Bradley Lord recently told Sky Sports F1: "We're under no rush. We manage George's career as well, being the team he drives for at the moment.

"We know there's no pressure. He's fully focused on how we perform in this triple-header and how we keep the car moving forward.

"Then, at the right time, him and Toto will sit down and it doesn't take terribly long to thrash these things out. It hasn't happened yet but it certainly will in the weeks and months ahead."