{"id":220720,"date":"2025-06-28T07:15:09","date_gmt":"2025-06-28T07:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/220720\/"},"modified":"2025-06-28T07:15:09","modified_gmt":"2025-06-28T07:15:09","slug":"max-verstappen-to-mercedes-george-russell-bombshell-triggers-toto-wolff-grilling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/220720\/","title":{"rendered":"Max Verstappen to Mercedes? George Russell bombshell triggers Toto Wolff grilling"},"content":{"rendered":"

Toto Wolff has insisted that George Russell remains at the \u201ctop of the list\u201d to race for Mercedes in the F1 2026 season despite the team\u2019s interest in Max Verstappen.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It comes after Russell claimed that negotiations between Mercedes and Verstappen are \u201congoing\u201d with a view to an agreement for next season.<\/p>\n

Toto Wolff responds after George Russell drops Max Verstappen to Mercedes bombshell<\/p>\n

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher<\/p>\n

Despite enjoying his strongest start to a season in F1 2025, culminating in his victory at the recent Canadian Grand Prix, Russell remains without a contract for next season.<\/p>\n

The two-year extension signed by Russell on the eve of the 2023 Italian Grand Prix is due to expire at the end of this year, with the British driver about to enter the final six months of his existing deal.<\/p>\n

Despite being officially under contract until the end of 2028, Verstappen has been linked with a move away from Red Bull over the last 12 months in light of the team\u2019s competitive decline.<\/p>\n

Analysis: Where will Max Verstappen be in F1 2026?<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc49\u00a0How Max Verstappen to Mercedes could shake up F1 2026 driver market<\/a><\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc49 Could George Russell inadvertently trigger his own Mercedes exit?<\/a><\/p>\n

Christian Horner, the Red Bull team principal, told media including PlanetF1.com at last year\u2019s Dutch Grand Prix<\/a> that Verstappen\u2019s contract contains a \u201cperformance element\u201d that would potentially allow him to leave before 2028 if the team fail to provide a competitive car.<\/p>\n

It has been speculated that Verstappen will be free to leave Red Bull for F1 2026 if he is lower than third after a certain point of the current season, believed to be around the time of next month\u2019s summer break.<\/p>\n

Verstappen currently holds a 19-point lead over Russell in the fight for third behind the dominant McLaren pair of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.<\/p>\n

Wolff made no secret of his desire to sign Verstappen last year following Lewis Hamilton\u2019s shock switch to Ferrari before electing to sign Andrea Kimi Antonelli, the teenage sensation, as Russell\u2019s new team-mate.<\/p>\n

It has been expected that Mercedes will renew its interest in Verstappen ahead of the F1 2026 regulation changes, for which the team\u2019s preparations are believed to be advanced<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Despite being linked with the likes of Red Bull and Aston Martin<\/a>, Russell has been insistent that a new deal with Mercedes remains his priority.<\/p>\n

In an interview with Sky F1 ahead of this weekend\u2019s Austrian Grand Prix, however, he claimed that the \u201congoing\u201d conversations between Mercedes and Verstappen are delaying a decision on his future.<\/p>\n

He said:\u00a0\u201cAs Mercedes, they want to be back on top.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd if you\u2019re going to be back on top you need to make sure you\u2019ve got the best drivers, the best engineers, the best pit crew and that\u2019s what Mercedes are chasing.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it\u2019s only normal that conversations with the likes of Verstappen are ongoing.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut from my side, if I\u2019m performing as I\u2019m doing, what have I got to be concerned about? There are two seats in every Formula 1 team.\u201d<\/p>\n

F1 contracts: Made to be broken?<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc49 F1 2025 driver salaries revealed: Who are the highest-paid drivers on the grid?<\/a><\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc49 F1 driver contracts: What is the contract status of every driver on the F1 2025 grid?<\/a><\/p>\n

Speaking to media including PlanetF1.com on Friday in Austria, Wolff argued that Russell \u201cneeds to be top of the list\u201d for a Mercedes F1 2026 seat given his success with the team since 2022.<\/p>\n

Yet he was cagey about the nature of his negotiations with Verstappen, calling for talks over the team\u2019s driver lineup to be kept \u201cbehind closed doors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked what Russell must do in order to secure an extension, Wolff said: \u201cNothing.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has been part of our program for 10 years or so. He\u2019s always performed to the expectations that we have set and he\u2019s continued to do so.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t given him a car to win World Championship in the last three years, so that\u2019s completely on us.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the times the car has been good, he has been winning races.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can see today that he\u2019s always there. You know that when he\u2019s getting in the car, he\u2019s going to extract what is in the car.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, having said that for whatever reason, in early summer those kind of contract discussions start to end up being accelerated in the media, or accelerated because of a lack of information.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I have been doing the last 30 years in a normal business, contract discussions are not being held in town halls.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo everything is normal, everything goes to plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe needs to be top of the list because he\u2019s a race winner with us. He\u2019s a Mercedes junior, he\u2019s been with the team for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked specifically about Russell\u2019s suggestion that Mercedes\u2019 talks with Verstappen are delaying a decision on his future, he added: \u201cAgain, we are going into territory that I don\u2019t want to discuss out here.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut people talk, people explore and most important is that in our organisation we are transparent, but it doesn\u2019t change a millimetre of my opinion of George, his abilities or anything else.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether I like it or not, I like what George says and I\u2019m always supportive of the driver and there is no such thing as saying things I wouldn\u2019t want him to say.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we are very transparent in the team, what we do, what we plan and and we\u2019ve been like that since I was put in charge of that, so that\u2019s not the issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the moment, clearly you need to explore what\u2019s happening in the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it doesn\u2019t change anything of what I said before, about George or about Kimi or about the lineup that I\u2019m extremely happy of having.\u201d<\/p>\n

More on Max Verstappen and George Russell from PlanetF1.com<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc49 Max Verstappen news<\/a><\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc49 George Russell news<\/a><\/p>\n

Russell and Verstappen have had an uneasy relationship over recent years, with the pair embroiled in a war of words<\/a> in the closing weeks of the 2024 season.<\/p>\n

The pair\u2019s rivalry reignited at the Spanish Grand Prix earlier this month as Verstappen made contact with Russell\u2019s car in the closing laps in Barcelona, putting him on the brink of a race ban.<\/p>\n

Russell and Verstappen also went head to head at the recent Canadian Grand Prix, where Red Bull failed in a post-race protest against the Mercedes driver\u2019s fourth career victory.<\/p>\n

Russell\u2019s contractual situation means he is the driver most likely to be replaced by Mercedes for F1 2026 if the team proves successful in its pursuit of Verstappen, with Antonelli regarded as a potential star of the future.<\/p>\n

However, Wolff raised the possibility that Russell and Verstappen could be team-mates next season, claiming the pair would be \u201ceasy\u201d to manage compared to the explosive partnership between Hamilton and Nico Rosberg at Mercedes between 2013 and 2016.<\/p>\n

Asked if he could envisage Verstappen and Russell in the same team, he replied: \u201cI can imagine every lineup.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had Rosberg and Hamilton fighting for a world championship, so everything else afterwards is easy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are pros and cons of having two drivers fighting each other hard and we\u2019ve seen examples where that functions and other examples where it didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd when it comes to the contact situation, our sport is pressure. Constant pressure.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether you\u2019re in the car, outside of the car, you just need to cope with that.<\/p>\n

\u201cGeorge knows that, like any other driver knows it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel that when you\u2019re being put in a comfort zone, sometimes that is actually more detrimental to performance than having a certain pressure point in the system.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked if there is a deadline for a decision by Verstappen, and whether he would replace Antonelli or Russell if a deal comes off, Wolff denied that negotiations with the reigning four-time World Champion have reached an advanced stage.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cYou make it sound like that we have been asking \u2018when do you want to join\u2019 and \u2018what are the terms\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not how it is and how it works.<\/p>\n

\u201cI come back to my previous answer: I want to just have the conversations behind closed doors, not town halls, and we have two drivers that have been in our program for a long time, drivers that I\u2019m very perfectly happy to have, drivers that will look great in the future of the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it\u2019s a bit different, the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wolff has previously played down talk of Mercedes making a move for Verstappen in 2025, insisting at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in April that he would not \u201cflirt\u201d with the Red Bull driver<\/a>\u00a0before declaring that he \u201ccouldn\u2019t wish for anything better\u201d than the Russell\/Antonelli partnership.<\/p>\n

Asked what has changed since he said he vowed to avoid flirting with Verstappen, Wolff said: \u201cDefine \u2018flirting\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, nothing changed. There is no flirt in that sense.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can flirt or you have conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Could Max Verstappen end up at Aston Martin instead?<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc49\u00a0PF1 verdict: Does Max Verstappen to Aston Martin make sense?<\/a><\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc49\u00a0Max Verstappen: Unbeatable?<\/a><\/p>\n

Mercedes is likely to face opposition from Aston Martin in the race to secure Verstappen\u2019s signature after the Silverstone-based team signed F1 design guru Adrian Newey, a key figure behind the driver\u2019s recent success, from Red Bull last year.<\/p>\n

Aston Martin will also enter a technical partnership with Honda, Red Bull\u2019s current engine partners, from next season.<\/p>\n

After a respected F1 reporter claimed last winter that talks between Aston Martin and Verstappen were ongoing<\/a>, a report ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix claimed Aston Martin was preparing a $300million offer for the World Champion.<\/p>\n

In a statement issued to PlanetF1.com<\/a>, however, Aston Martin insisted that the team remains fully committed to their existing lineup of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, who are both under contract until at least the end of next season.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson said:\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s normal for the media to speculate on driver market, but we have an amazing driver line-up that we are committed to and who are under contract for 2026 and beyond.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur focus is on delivering for our drivers by giving them a more consistent and competitive car.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we do, they are both capable of delivering great results.\u201d<\/p>\n

Appearing at the recent Monaco Grand Prix, Newey himself conceded that Aston Martin is unlikely to tempt Verstappen<\/a> until it is in a position to offer \u201cthe fastest car.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read next:\u00a0F1 data analysis: The secrets behind Alex Dunne\u2019s stunning McLaren debut<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Toto Wolff has insisted that George Russell remains at the \u201ctop of the list\u201d to race for Mercedes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":220721,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[9824,225,1073,4859,12,226,79,14319,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-220720","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-george-russell","9":"tag-home-page","10":"tag-max-verstappen","11":"tag-mercedes","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-red-bull","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-toto-wolff","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114759763437124709","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=220720"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220720\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/220721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}