MIAMI, Florida — Lewis Hamilton’s decision to leave Mercedes following the 2024 Formula 1 season created an open seat with the team, one eventually filled by rookie Kimi Antonelli. But with both Antonelli and George Russell on one-year deals with the team, the 2025 season began with renewed speculation over the Mercedes driver lineup for 2026 and beyond.
Results on the track have perhaps made the path clear. With Russell scoring a podium in three of the five Grands Prix this season, and Antonelli more than holding his own, rumors of a shock move for Max Verstappen have given way to the idea of an impending extension for both drivers.
During the FIA Press Conference Friday in Miami, Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff gave the biggest indication yet to the media, including SB Nation, that an extension would indeed be coming Russell’s way. Asked whether he would re-sign Russell, Wolff had this to say:
“George is part of the Mercedes family, and has always been, and as I see things today, why break a team that is on a trajectory that I see as positive?”
That was not the only praise that Wolff had for both of his drivers.
“George has massively stepped up, as a senior driver in the team. Kimi’s almost like the young brother that’s come in. They work together well, which is very pleasing to see,” said Wolff.
“Kimi doesn’t stress too much.
“He’s just building up constantly, and on George you can rely when it comes to lap times and the racing, so the spirits are high.”
Wolff went on further to call Russell the driver the team can “rely on” when they need performance.
“I think it becomes so obvious when, when a seven-time world champion leaves the team, with which he was 12 years, George, who’s been always, like everyone, a little bit in the shadow of Lewis Hamilton, is now the one that gives the direction, is the one that, you can rely on,” continued Wolff.
Rampant speculation about driver movement is a fact of life in Formula 1, and visions of a shocking move by Max Verstappen — similar to the move by Hamilton to Ferrari — will continue to move the content needle.
But with Verstappen signed at Red Bull through 2028, and the team working around the clock to deliver a challenger that he can utilize to retain his Drivers’ Championship title, Mercedes has a young driver pairing that is delivering results in the present.
And the potential to deliver even bigger results in the future.
