George Russell “quite bruised" as Martin Brundle notices mood shift amid contract delay

F1 commentator Martin Brundle has noticed a shift in George Russell’s mood as he waits for a new Mercedes contract.

Russell and Kimi Antonelli’s F1 futures are still up in the air.

Mercedes have yet to announce their contract extensions, even though Toto Wolff has insisted that it’s a formality that both drivers will remain with the team.

Wolff has expressed interest in signing Max Verstappen.

However, Verstappen confirmed during the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend in August that he will be at Red Bull in 2026.

Mercedes and Wolff will likely want to keep their options open in the long term.

While Russell will want commitment from Mercedes beyond 2026, this helps explain the possible delay.

Russell has arguably been the best-performing driver in 2025, but Wolff has continued to entertain the possibility of signing Verstappen.

Speaking ahead of the Italian Grand Prix, Brundle said Russell “feels quite bruised” by the constant rumours around Verstappen and Mercedes.

“I’d take him. I would have signed George a long time ago, because George is not happy, is he?” Brundle said.

“It’s very easy to see that George feels quite bruised about all the Max talk and what have you through the summer.

“But when you look at the calm at McLaren and other teams, I just think they’ve injected too many of their own problems into the driver line-up. I’d keep him. What would you do?”

Rosberg’s view on Antonelli

Antonelli is expected to retain his seat for 2026 despite a difficult run of form.

The 19-year-old has scored points just three times in the last nine races.

Antonelli’s scrappy weekend at Monza led to public criticism from Wolff, who described it as “underwhelming”.

Rosberg feels that Mercedes shouldn’t rush to re-sign Antonelli.

“Unfortunately, at the moment, you’d have to still wait [on Antonelli], and you have to wait it out until the end of the season and maybe make the call in the winter then, because at the moment, it’s hard to sign it today,” Rosberg explained.

“There are too many mistakes still happening from young Antonelli, but I do believe he has huge potential, and he should be there next year.”