George Russell still ‘trusts’ Toto Wolff – but new F1 deal must suit both sides

George Russell has insisted he still has full “trust” in Toto Wolff and Mercedes, but says any new F1 contract must suit both sides.

Russell is out of contract at the end of 2025 and, despite putting together arguably the best campaign of his F1 career so far, was rumoured to be on his way out of the team.

Mercedes explored the possibility of signing Max Verstappen for next year.

However, ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix, Verstappen finally ended any speculation linking him to Mercedes by confirming he will drive for Red Bull in 2026.

A new Mercedes deal for Russell now looks to be inevitable, but the main sticking point is the length of the deal.

Russell would like a longer-term deal to give him much-needed security, but Mercedes will likely prefer a shorter contract to give them the opportunity to explore signing Verstappen again in the future.

On Thursday in Hungary, Russell conceded that the last six months have been “conflicting” for him.

“Now, of course, these last six months have been a very unique situation where I don’t have huge power in that sort of agreement, and maybe the interests were not aligned for some time, which has, of course, put me at risk for these last six months,” Russell said.

“But then it was my job to perform and reduce that risk. So, I don’t know, to be honest. I don’t wish for it to come to anything like that. I still trust Toto and I still trust in the team that they will always support me as long as I’m performing. So that’s what I need to focus on. But of course, for both Kimi and I, these past months have not been the most assuring for our future, and that’s just been a bit conflicting.”

Russell admitted that the length of his new Mercedes deal is still “something we need to think about”.

The British driver was adamant that winning - not money - is on his mind when negotiating.

“I mean, it’s something we need to think about, what is in the interest of both parties really - what do I want from this as much as what do Mercedes want? It has been obviously a bit of a unique situation we found ourselves in over these last six months,” he explained.

“The fact is from my side, I want to win, that is the only thing I care about.

“More than money, more than number of days of sponsorship, more than anything, I want to win and that for me is the most important thing about my future.”