George Russell entered the 2025 Formula 1 season in a fascinating position. With Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari, Russell had inherited the veteran role at Mercedes, with young phenom Kimi Antonelli securing the second seat with the Silver Arrows.
Like Antonelli, however, Russell also entered the year on an expiring contract.
Thanks to a tremendous start to the 2025 season — Russell has three podium finishes over four race weekends to enter this week’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix fourth in the Drivers’ Championship standings — there are reports that the driver is close to a new deal with Mercedes.
Speaking with the media in Jeddah, Russell stressed that he was not … stressed about his contract status with the team.
“From my side, there’s literally no stress, no worries whatsoever,” began Russell when speaking with Sky Sports F1. “When it comes to contracts, everyone gets so excited about it, and the fact is, drivers have had contracts, and if they don’t perform, they’ll get booted out.
“For drivers, performance is our currency. That’s what we’ve got. And if you perform, everything’s good. So, I’m just excited to go racing this weekend, focus on performance, and the future sorts itself out.”
Russell was also asked about a report from Autosport that he was closing in on a new deal with the team, that would see him sign for two more seasons with an option for a third, as well as rumors about Mercedes remaining interested in securing Max Verstappen’s services if possible.
“Rumors are never that truthful are they,” responded Russell.
“When you said rumors, I didn’t really listen so much. A few of them are reasonably close, I guess, but at the end of the day, we’ve never discussed a contract prior to May or June in a season.”
Russell then described the “ruthless” nature of Formula 1, where “drive to survive” is more than just the name of a documentary series, but a way of life.
“I’d say the more abnormal point is how many drivers have these, sort of, long-term deals.
“But everyone’s got exit clauses, they’ve all got performance clauses. A driver that’s on a three-year contract, it doesn’t really mean anything if they’ve got an exit clause, or the team has an exit clause if the driver doesn’t perform. It doesn’t really mean a lot.
“If you’ve got a contract with a team but the team wants you gone, the team finds a way to get you gone.
“That’s how this sport works, and that’s how it should work because we’re 20 of the best in the world and it’s ruthless. There’s no time to mess around. All you can do is focus on driving fast.”
Russell will turn his attention to driving fast on Friday, in the first of three practice sessions at the tricky Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
