George Russell’s Mercedes contract delay branded “bizarre” amid Max Verstappen interest

F1 legend David Coulthard has labelled George Russell’s contract situation at Mercedes as “slightly bizarre”, with uncertainty lingering over his future amid speculation around Max Verstappen.

Heading into this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, Mercedes are yet to announce their F1 driver line-up for next year.

Russell and Kimi Antonelli are out of contract for 2026.

With Red Bull struggling for form on track, Verstappen’s future has continued to be in the spotlight.

Verstappen has been heavily linked with Mercedes over the last year.

Mercedes considered Verstappen a potential Lewis Hamilton replacement, but the Dutchman wasn’t interested in a move.

With entirely new technical regulations coming into play for 2026, the current pecking order will likely be flipped on its head.

Whispers in the paddock have hinted that Mercedes will be the team to beat next year, particularly on the power unit side.

Speaking to F1’s official website, Coulthard suggested that if Mercedes wanted to change their line-up, Russell should not be replaced.

“Then George not being officially signed is slightly bizarre,” Coulthard said.

“Based on the performance right now, even if there was a change in Mercedes’ line-up, you wouldn’t think it would be George who would be the change.

“There are a few things we’re all waiting on to fall into place.”

Russell focused on performance

Russell has insisted he’s not worried about his future, given his impressive performances in 2025.

Alongside Verstappen, Russell has arguably been the best-performing driver this season.

“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,” he said earlier this year.

“I don’t need to chase because I feel that I’m doing a good job. 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.

“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.”