{"id":400540,"date":"2025-09-05T17:37:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T17:37:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/400540\/"},"modified":"2025-09-05T17:37:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T17:37:11","slug":"toto-wolff-issues-update-regarding-mercedes-stars-contract","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/400540\/","title":{"rendered":"Toto Wolff Issues Update Regarding Mercedes Star’s Contract"},"content":{"rendered":"

With Mercedes being one of the top teams on the grid, the fact that they do not have either of their current two drivers signed to a long-term contract yet is a surprise.<\/p>\n

The team sit third in the championship with one win after George Russell’s victory in Canada being the only time the team have taken the top step in 2025.<\/p>\n

Rookie driver Kimi Antonelli was handed a strong test, with the 19-year-old Italian replacing the outgoing seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.<\/p>\n

Neither driver has been confirmed for the upcoming season, with rumors that Max Verstappen has been in conversation<\/a> with Wolff.<\/p>\n

George Russell and Mercedes Talks Getting Down To The ‘Nitty-Gritty’\"George<\/p>\n

Despite not being a confirmed driver for next year, George Russell has already won a race this season, in Canada. | David Kirouac-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Although not yet signed to the German F1 team for 2026, Wolff has made it clear he sees the renewal of George Russell’s contract as essential.<\/p>\n

Speaking to Sky Sports F1’s <\/a>commentary team during Practice 1 at the Italian Grand Prix, Wolff said:<\/p>\n

\n

“For whatever reason, we have these details we need to discuss – on [those kind of] days… It’s nitty-gritty things that we do not place such importance on. There is not going to be a big announcement that we have signed a contract, because it’s a no-brainer.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

“We have never gone for long-term contracts. I think the longest was a two-year [contract] we have done, with some options. So, it’s a Mercedes pattern.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

When Wolff was asked his thoughts on whether long-term contracts are beneficial to the driver’s confidence, he was quick to defend Mercedes’ shorter contract lengths:<\/p>\n

\n

“I think it makes no difference because they are under pressure anyway… That mindset is not right.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

‘There Is No Doubt’ Regarding Kimi Antonelli’s Future<\/p>\n

Mercedes’ new hire in 2025, Kimi Antonelli, has had a tough time since the opening portion of the season, with only two points-scoring finishes in the past nine races.<\/p>\n

\"Kimi<\/p>\n

Teenager Kimi Antonelli picked up the sole podium of his career so far also in Canada, where he finished third. | David Kirouac-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Wolff, however, has full confidence in the success of Antonelli:<\/p>\n

\n

“There is no doubting Kimi [Antonelli]. He came into the sport with a great bonfire [around him], the quickest in karting, his junior track series record… we probably did not calibrate him the right way – the start of the season was very strong, but then we had a car that was unpredictable. What is most important is to let him grow… he’s just a young kid.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

He then went on to say that putting Antonelli in the Mercedes seat was the right choice, and that they were enthusiastic about the prospect moving up to F1 regardless.<\/p>\n

\n

“We went into putting him in an F1 car with great enthusiasm. I think the team needed that, especially with Lewis [Hamilton] going [to Ferrari]. We walked into this with open eyes.. there were [always] going to be races where we tear our hair out, and ones that would be brilliant.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The Latest F1 News<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With Mercedes being one of the top teams on the grid, the fact that they do not have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":400541,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4103],"tags":[4199,707,4200,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-400540","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-f1","8":"tag-f1","9":"tag-formula-1","10":"tag-formula1","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115152909093842021","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400540","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=400540"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400540\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/400541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=400540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=400540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=400540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}