Toto Wolff drops clear George Russell contract hint after delays

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says a new contract for George Russell is “super near”.

Russell is the most high-profile driver without a confirmed seat for 2026 despite his impressive performances throughout the 2025 season.

Speculation about Russell’s future has been rife in recent months, particularly when Mercedes openly admitted to holding interest in signing four-time world champion Max Verstappen.

But a fresh deal with Russell has been considered a formality for some time, with Verstappen confirming in July that he would be staying put at Red Bull at least for 2026.

Despite this, the 27-year-old Briton’s contract remains unsigned.

However, Wolff has indicated that an agreement will soon be reached.

“We are super near," the Mercedes team principal told Sky Sports after final practice at the Singapore Grand Prix.

When pressed on whether that means a matter of days, hours or minutes, Wolff replied: “Something like that."

Speaking on Thursday in Singapore, Russell insisted his contract must be “done right”.

"I think for for any driver, when you get to a certain point in your career, things have be done right,” Russell said.

"Every time you renew a contract it's the most important one of of your life, and it has to be done with good care. There's nothing to worry about. It will get done.

"It's just about something that's fair, mutually beneficial. I think that's what we all will chase. It's obviously different for certain drivers who may have a bit more power, may have a bit less power. No more updates, nothing to report and I'll be glad to tell you all once there is."

Kimi Antonelli responds to ‘fire under the arse’

Kimi Antonelli is set to retain his seat alongside Russell for 2026 despite an up-and-down rookie F1 season.

The 19-year-old Italian endured a torrid run of form across the European stretch of the campaign, leading Wolff to publicly criticise Antonelli’s performance as “underwhelming” at Monza.

But Antonelli responded with a clean weekend in Azerbaijan that culminated with a strong drive to fourth.

“I think since Baku, we’ve seen a lot of big focus. There was so much attention on him and expectations were so high,” Wolff said.

“I feel that he has just less work outside in terms of media duties and maybe sponsorship duties and he’s spending all of his time with his engineering team and that’s good.”

Wolff added: “I think it’s a learning process with Kimi for what he responds well to.

“We’ve always encouraged him. Even encouraged to make mistakes, because this is the last years of these regulations and all the other drivers have got used to these cars.

“It’s his first year, he doesn’t know all these tracks, he doesn’t know all of this world, so for next year everyone starts with zero. And in that respect, I think he’s doing a good job.

“It seems to have worked to get a little bit of fire under the arse.”

Asked if Mercedes have seen enough to believe Antonelli could be a generational talent in F1, Wolff responded: "This is a very high level already if you look at George, Max, the skills are so high, and there’s a few others that fall into that bracket.

“I think actually making it into that group would be a success.

“The junior track record is phenomenal, he’s the best probably that we’ve seen in 10 years. In go-karting, exceptional. But Formula 1 is a different ball game.”