‘I don’t think I’ll be going anywhere’ – Russell addresses Mercedes contract talk as he denies talking to other teams

George Russell believes that the chances of him not being at Mercedes next season are “exceptionally low”, the Briton stating that he is not speaking to other teams as his loyalties remain with the Silver Arrows – as well as saying of the squad, “I know where their loyalty lies”.

Speculation has mounted for some time over Russell’s future at the outfit, with the 27-year-old’s current deal running until the end of 2025, while Russell himself has also spoken of Mercedes having “conversations” with Max Verstappen.

Asked ahead of this weekend’s British Grand Prix if there is any new contract yet, Russell explained: “No updates since the last time we spoke. Honestly, as I’ve said for the majority of this season, I’m just focused on the driving.

“It’s a huge weekend for us, for me my home race – it’s my favourite race of the year, and that’s where I want to give all my focus and attention, to try to win this Grand Prix. We were on pole here last year, we were leading the first third of the race.

“Temperatures look slightly more favourable for us this weekend – not as favourable as they were this time 12 months ago, but much more compared to Austria last weekend. We know clearly that’s where we struggled, so just excited for that.”

Pushed on whether he would question the team’s loyalty more if the contract saga continued to go on, Russell responded: “There’s a lot of conversations behind the scenes that are not public. 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 past week because there’s numerous news articles and whatnot out there, but in all honesty it doesn’t really change anything from my side because, as I’ve said before, I feel I’m performing better than ever and it’s as simple as that really. Performance speaks for everything.”

And when then asked if he was speaking to any other teams, Russell firmly answered: “No.”

Following on from his recent comments about Mercedes having “conversations” with Verstappen, the four-time race winner was quizzed on whether it was right for him to also speak to other teams.

“Every team has two seats available, and it’s normal that every team is considering what the future holds,” Russell reflected. “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, lots of rumours and all of these are being pointed towards me, but from my side feel that isn’t really going to be the case. I want to continue with Mercedes into the future.

“The fact is Toto [Wolff] 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 but it also includes thousands of people who work for Mercedes.

“For me it’s nothing to worry about because I don’t think I’ll be going anywhere, and whoever my team mate will be, it doesn’t concern me either. I’m just focused on the driving.”

In terms of how confident he is that there is a contingency plan in place should he not be at Mercedes in 2026, Russell said: “Pretty confident, to be honest, because I think what I’ve proven so far has been plenty enough. Not really much more to say.

“Any teams who did reach out in the past, I said I am loyal to Mercedes – that’s where my future lies, and ultimately Mercedes are my managers so it has to be dealt through Mercedes in the first place but there hasn’t been a lack of interest, let’s say.

“I’ve been focusing on my side, I am loyal to Mercedes and everything will work itself out. The likelihood I’m not at Mercedes next year I think is exceptionally low.”

And while he suggested that there is no specific deadline in place for when his future needs to be decided, Russell hinted that there may be movement within the near future.

“There’s not really any deadline in place, to be honest,” the Mercedes driver said. “Naturally you try and have stuff done before the summer break. From my side, Mercedes manage me as well, so it’s not really a deadline in my hands as such.

“I’m not even thinking about it – right now obviously there’s a lot of questions about it, but the more we speak about it, the less we speak about it, nothing really changes. It will happen when the time is right. I expect in the next couple of weeks probably something will happen, but we’ll need to wait and see.”