Though understanding that Toto Wolff wants what's best for Mercedes, George Russell is confident that he will continue with the German team.

While Mercedes prefers to hold its driver negotiations away from the media spotlight, and there was ongoing speculation linking Max Verstappen with both the German team and Aston Martin, it was Russell himself who kick-started the latest frenzy when he revealed that his team had been in talks with the Dutchman.

As Toto Wolff insists that he is happy with the line-up he has he also admits that he must have the best line-up for the team, and while this would undoubtedly mean employing arguably the best driver on the grid, would this mean partnering the Dutchman with Kimi Antonelli.

Speaking ahead of his home race weekend, Russell is confident that the Mercedes seat is his.

"Every team has two seats available," said the Briton, "and it's normal that every team is considering what the future holds, I don't take that personally because I made it clear from the beginning I'm happy to be team-mates with anybody.

"Of course, there's lots of conversations," he continued, "lots of rumours and all of these are being pointed towards me, but from my side, that isn't really going to be the case.

"I want to continue with Mercedes into the future," he added. "The fact is, Toto has never let me down. He's always given me his word, but he's also got to do what's right for his team, which includes me. It also includes the thousands of people who work for Mercedes.

"For me, it's nothing to worry about," he insisted, "because I don't think I'll be going anywhere, and whoever my team-mate will be, it doesn't concern me either. So I'm just focus on the driving."

Asked if the protracted negotiations have compromised his loyalty to Mercedes, he said: "There's a lot of conversations behind the scenes that are not public and I know where their loyalty lies and it doesn't need to be public, it doesn't need to be broadcasted to everybody.

"We've obviously spoken a little bit more over the last week because there are numerous news articles and whatnot out there, but in all honesty, it doesn't really change anything on my side. As I've said before, I feel I'm performing better than ever, and it's as simple as that really.

"There is not really any deadline in place to be honest," he added. "Obviously, naturally, we're trying to have stuff done before the summer break.

"From my side, Mercedes manages me as well, so it's not really a deadline in my hands as such. "So, not really, I'm not even thinking about it right now.

"Obviously, there are a lot of questions about it, but the more we speak, the less we speak about it, nothing really changes. It will happen when the time is right and I expect probably in the next couple of weeks something to happen, but yeah, we'll be waiting."

No doubt fans can expect one or two mentions of the situation in Sky's coverage over the weekend.