28/06/2025
NEWS STORY
Playing down the need to extend George Russell's contract at this time, Toto Wolff admits his continued interest in four-time world champion Max Verstappen.
Despite previously admitting his regret at allowing Verstappen to slip through his fingers, Wolff subsequently insisted that he had given up on the idea of attempting to lure the Dutchman to Mercedes, content with his current line-up.
However, speaking on Thursday, Russell said that he was aware of talks between the team and the Dutchman, admitting that that it was only natural that Mercedes explore all options in seeking the best line-up.
This, of course, set things up nicely for the media, when Wolff appeared at the official press conference.
Asked what Russell has to do in order to have his contract extended, Wolff said: "Nothing. He has been part of our program since ten years or so. He's always performed to the expectations that we have set, and he's continuing to do so.
"We haven't given him a car to win a world championship in the last three years, so that's completely on us. And the times the car has been good, he has been winning races. You know that when he's getting in the car, he's going to extract what is in the car.
"Having said that, for whatever reason, in early summer, those kinds of contract discussions start to end up being accelerated in the media or accelerated because of a lack of information. What I have been doing the last 30 years in a normal business, contract discussions are not being held as town halls. So, everything is normal. Everything goes to plan."
Asked if the Briton is top of his list, the Austrian replied: "He needs to be top of the list because he's a race winner with us. He's a Mercedes junior. He's been with the team for a long time."
However, Wolff was then asked about Russell's comments just 24 hours earlier.
"We are going into territory that I don't want to discuss out here," he said. "But people talk, people explore, and most important is that in our organisation, we are transparent. But it doesn't change a millimetre of my opinion of George, his abilities, or anything else."
Pressed harder on whether talks have been held with Verstappen, Wolff replied: "Whether I like it or not, I like what George says, and I'm always supportive of the driver. There's no such thing as saying things I wouldn't want him to say.
"I think we are very transparent in the team for what we do, what we plan, and we've been like that since I was put in charge. So that's not the issue. At the moment, clearly, you need to explore what's happening in the future, but it doesn't change anything of what I said before about George or about Kimi, about the line-up that I'm extremely happy to have."
Asked, given their history, if Russell and Verstappen could work together, Wolff said: "I can imagine every line-up. I had Rosberg and Hamilton fighting for a world championship, so everything else afterwards is easy.
"There's pros and cons of having two drivers fighting each other hard," he admitted. "We've seen examples where that functioned and other examples where it didn't.
"When it comes to the contract situation, our sport is pressure, constant pressure. Whether you're in the car, outside of the car, you just need to cope with that, and George knows that, like any other driver knows it. I feel that when you're being put in a comfort zone, sometimes that is actually more detrimental to performance than having a certain pressure point in the system."
As for a "deadline" by which time Verstappen needs to inform Mercedes if he is actually available, the Austrian laughed: "You make it sound like we have been asking when do you want to join and here are the terms. That's not how it is and how it works.
"I come back to my previous answer," he continued. "I just want to have the conversations behind closed doors, not town halls. We have two drivers that have been in our program since a long time, drivers that I'm perfectly happy to have, drivers that will do great in the future of the team. So it's a bit different, the situation."
Subsequently, asked by Sky Sports about the "delay" in agreeing a new deal with Russell, Wolff, in seeking to shed a little more light on the situation, only muddied the water.
"There is no delay in George's contract situation because it's pretty clear since a long time what our timings were," he said.
"We've known each other for such a long time, so there is no such thing as a delay," he added. "But also as a team principal responsible for the best car brand in the world, it is clear you're exploring what a four-time world champion is going to do in the future, and that could be a long time in the future. But that has no effect on us putting a signature on George's contract.
"What we are trying to do in the team is be transparent, as we are," he insisted. "You can choose to hold things under wraps, or do what we've done in the last 20 years I've been here, which is putting it out there and saying this is the situation.
"These drivers are clever people, and they talk to each other. I'm always open about these things, and I'm saying it how it is and there's no such thing as saying, 'We are going to sign Max,' because it's so far away that it's not realistic at that stage. So with George, we talk about everything."
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