The 27-year-old has scored three podiums in the opening four rounds and sits just 14 points behind world championship leader Lando Norris.
Along with reigning world champion Max Verstappen, who is six points ahead of him, Russell could be said to have been the pound-for-pound best driver on the grid this year, extracting absolutely everything from his Mercedes.
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Russell’s performances have been attracting praise from all corners, with his own team principal Toto Wolff declaring that the Brit is currently among the top two or three drivers in the sport.
Given Wolff’s assessment of the driver he has brought through Mercedes’ junior system, it’s highly confusing that the Austrian has allowed Russell to enter the final year of his contract with the team.
Amid conflicting accounts emerging this week over whether Russell is on the verge of agreeing a long-term extension, Sky Sports analyse how the situation has reached this point.
What is Russell’s current deal?
Russell’s last contract renewal came in August 2023, as both he and then team-mate Lewis Hamilton signed deals that were said to run until the end of the 2025 season.
It would be revealed in February 2024, when Hamilton signed a blockbuster deal to join Ferrari for 2025, that the seven-time world champion’s contract had been a ‘one-plus-one’ deal, which both he and the team had the option to get out of at the end of 2024.
Whether Russell’s deal had been of the same nature was unclear, but Hamilton’s departure opened up an opportunity for him to establish himself as the team’s clear leader.
He produced an impressive 2024 campaign, dominating Hamilton in qualifying and finishing 22 points clear of his team-mate in the driver’s standings despite losing out on a victory in Belgium because of a disqualification that was not his fault.
The chance to assert himself was further enhanced when Wolff decided to gamble on putting hugely inexperienced Kimi Antonelli in the other 2025 Mercedes car, with the Italian teenager sure to need some time to find his feet at motorsport’s top level.
The season has begun with Russell doing just that, with the Brit having already opened a 33-point advantage over Antonelli despite some impressive flashes of pace from the youngster.
Is this situation normal?
Looking at the current landscape for the contracts of elite drivers in F1, it is quite peculiar that Mercedes haven’t already renewed Russell’s deal.
Reigning constructors’ champions McLaren have both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri tied to long-term deals.
McLaren have been pro-active in not allowing their young duo’s contracts to get anywhere near expiration, with Norris in early 2024 signing an extension until the end of the 2027 season.
Piastri, meanwhile, was extended until the end of 2028 before the start of this season, with McLaren renewing the Australian’s deal for the second time since signing him in 2023.
Verstappen signed a mega-contract back in 2022 to stay with Red Bull until the end of 2028. It’s worth noting that with this deal, and just about all F1 contracts, there is generally a way out of them. In the Dutchman’s case it has been well publicised that if performance clauses are not met by Red Bull he will have the option of leaving before 2028.
There was plenty made of Ferrari allowing Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz to enter the final year of their contracts that were expiring at the end of 2024.
Leclerc eventually penned a new long-term deal in January 2024, but Sainz, much to his shock, would be replaced by Hamilton and was left to find a new team for 2025, which ended up being Williams.
It has never been confirmed, but it’s fair to assume the delay in Ferrari renewing their drivers’ deals at that time might have had something to do with team principal Fred Vasseur being aware of the possibility of signing Hamilton.
Are Mercedes waiting for Verstappen?
That brings us to the elephant in the Mercedes room, or garage, if you prefer.
Following news of Hamilton’s departure last year, Wolff, buoyed by off-track turmoil at Red Bull, which saw the Dutch driver’s father Jos Verstappen insist that team principal Christian Horner needed to leave the team, embarked on a very public pursuit of Verstappen.
Having said that he held talks with the Verstappen camp over last season’s summer break, Wolff accepted in August that the switch wouldn’t happen for the 2025 season but said he retained an interest in making the signing for 2026.
A 2026 move appeared to make more sense for all camps, with the introduction of radical new engine and design regulations likely to give Mercedes the chance to return to title contention after being left off the pace following the previous rule-changes in 2022.
However, with a fourth successive drivers’ title for Verstappen appearing to have stabilised his situation at Red Bull, Wolff said just before the 2025 season got under way that he was no longer trying to sign the Dutchman.
“I don’t flirt outside if I’m in a good relationship, and that is true for this year too,” Wolff said in Australia ahead of the season-opener. “So, at the moment that [a move for Verstappen] is not on any radar.
“I don’t plan to shift my concentration away from these guys and make sure that George has some visibility very soon or has a contract very soon.”
However, after a rocky start to the season for Red Bull, which led team advisor Helmut Marko to say on Sunday he has “great concern” about Verstappen’s future with the team, it would be hugely surprising if Wolff wasn’t closely monitoring the sport’s star driver’s situation.
Could Russell and Verstappen be team-mates?
It also must be noted that Verstappen and Russell had a huge public spat at the end of last season, which left the prospect of the pair becoming team-mates any time soon as pretty unthinkable.
Pairing the rivals would also mean taking a Mercedes seat away from Antonelli, the 18-year-old who the team have already invested huge amounts of time and resource into, in the hope he can fulfil what many believe to be a generational level of talent.
Red Bull have chosen to avoid giving Verstappen an elite driver as his team-mate, but Sky Sports F1’s Karun Chandhok isn’t convinced Mercedes would take the same approach.
He said: “I think Red Bull have created a situation, perhaps, where Max has got a say on who is in the other car. Whereas at Mercedes, he may not have a say.
“If you were Toto, and you had the option of George and Max, that’s an unbelievably strong line-up. Those are two drivers who have been consistently performing at the highest level for six months.”
Speaking on the latest episode of The F1 Show, Sky Sports’ Ted Kravitz said he believes Russell’s impressive form wouldn’t stop Wolff discarding the Brit to sign Verstappen.
“I don’t think that will have a bearing,” Kravitz said. “George could be leading the world championship, but Toto will, in all likelihood, if he gets the opportunity, sign Verstappen up for the future.
“I don’t think, such is the unrelentingly cutthroat nature of Formula 1, I don’t think he would think twice about replacing George Russell.”
What happens next?
That brings us to the present, with the final leg of a triple-header coming up in Saudi Arabia this weekend. After another superb display from Russell secured second in Bahrain, paddock confusion at the continued absence of a new deal reached new heights.
Autosport reported on Monday that the Brit is close to signing a two-year extension with an option for a further year in 2028, but Sky Sports understand that a new agreement, and its subsequent announcement, are not imminent.
When asked about the situation during the opening weeks of the season, Russell and Wolff have both given largely evasive answers but spoken very positively about the relationship between driver and team. If anything, what Wolff said in China was less committal than what he had said in Australia a week or so earlier.
“George is a Mercedes driver, so we love having him in the team,” Wolff said in Shanghai. “He was a junior driver and a Mercedes-grown talent. I have something to be proud of and this is where all my concentration goes to.”
From Russell’s side, he has insisted that there is “no rush, no concerns and no pressure”, but added that previous contract negotiations with Wolff have taken “no more than 24 hours”.
While Russell is playing it cool, it’s hard to believe he would hesitate to sign an extension if offered one, given Mercedes’ confidence in performing strongly under the incoming regulations.
Also, from Mercedes’ perspective, it would make total sense for them to have a deal in place with Russell, regardless of whether they ultimately sign it.
While it’s perfectly understandable that Mercedes would want to wait for as long as possible to see if they can sign Verstappen, the noise around Russell’s situation is only going to increase with every passing round, especially if he continues to turn in elite performance.
Chandhok concluded: “I wouldn’t be concerned yet. I think if it gets to the British Grand Prix in the first week of July and there’s still no deal, that’s a different conversation.
“I wouldn’t yet be worried if I was George, because at the end of the day, if you keep delivering and doing the job on track and being the team leader, they can’t ignore it.”
Saudi Arabian GP dates, UK start time and Sky Sports F1’s live schedule – practice, qualifying and race
Thursday April 17
- 4pm: Drivers’ Press Conference
Friday April 18
- 10.50am: F2 Practice
- 12pm: F1 Academy Practice
- 2pm: Saudi Arabian GP Practice One (session starts at 2.30pm)
- 3.55pm: F2 Qualifying
- 4.40pm: Team Bosses’ Press Conference
- 5.45pm: Saudi Arabian GP Practice Two (session starts at 6pm)
- 7.25pm: F1 Academy Qualifying
- 8.10pm: The F1 Show
Saturday April 19
- 1.15pm: F1 Academy Race 1
- 2.05pm: Saudi Arabian GP Practice Three (session starts at 2.30pm)*
- 4.10pm: F2 Sprint
- 5.10pm: Saudi Arabian GP Qualifying build-up
- 6pm: SAUDI ARABIAN GP QUALIFYING
Sunday April 20
- 1pm: F1 Academy Race 2
- 2.20pm: F2 Feature Race
- 4.30pm: Saudi Arabian GP build-up: Grand Prix Sunday
- 6pm: THE SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX*
- 8pm: Saudi Arabian GP reaction: Chequered flag
*Also live on Sky Sports Main Event
Formula 1 completes its first triple-header of 2025 in Jeddah with the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime
