It’s set to be a weekend of anticipated bulletins in Austin, and Mercedes obtained the ball rolling first on Wednesday when it confirmed George Russell and Kimi Antonelli as its 2026 driver line-up.
Toto Wolff had insisted that might be the pairing numerous months in the past, and that there may not even be an announcement as soon as pen was put to paper. However because the contracts remained unsigned, it turned one of many more odd unfastened ends as Components 1 entered the ultimate seven weeks of its season and one in all its high performers nonetheless didn’t have a deal.
I used to be as a consequence of sit down with Russell in Azerbaijan, and the point of interest was actually going to be the shortage of a contract at that stage. An sickness affecting the 27-year-old delayed these plans till Thursday at Circuit of the Americas, and the timing in some ways couldn’t have been higher after a second place in Baku and a win in Singapore preceded the contract announcement.
The deal had been deemed a formality lengthy earlier than that, however that was partly because of the reality Russell is managed by Mercedes and any transfer elsewhere would want sanctioning by his present employers. But he insists that was not an axe that was hung over him.
“It is at all times going to be mutually useful, proper?” Russell tells RACER. “For a staff to get probably the most out of their driver, they want the driving force to be glad and really feel valued and revered, and so forth, and so forth. And that is the identical whether or not you are a junior driver or managed by the staff or by no means.
“That is why I am glad, as a result of I feel Toto has been past honest along with his proposal and supply and what we have agreed. I am very glad.
“He may have been considerably tougher if he needed to be – and naturally he may have been extra beneficiant if he needed to be – however I’m very proud of the place we have to.”
Russell admits he performed a component in it taking so lengthy for the deal to lastly be finished, and notes that many observers don’t admire simply how totally different every year seems to be from the final for a driver when it comes to their off-track workload. However that doesn’t get away from the very fact Mercedes retained the true energy in negotiations.
“There’s numerous off-track issues that I needed to tidy up,” he says. “And this is not as a result of I wish to spend extra time laying on the seashore and chilling out. It is because I wish to be a good higher driver and I wish to take myself to the subsequent degree.
“The seasons are getting longer and longer, and there is extra commitments. The F1 launch at first of the yr, New York premieres, Monaco premieres, Netflix commitments, all issues which might be really separate to all of the sponsorship commitments…
“Going into subsequent yr, we’ll must do extra days on the simulator. If you add up the 2 extra checks, there’s about 12 extra days gone out of your schedule. So earlier than you already know it, it is like, ‘How am I going to have time to coach, be in fine condition, be capable to get well from the jetlag and X, Y, Z?’
“In order that was an enormous issue to me, whether or not it is cash or no matter it could be, as a result of I wish to win. I wish to win greater than making probably the most amount of cash on the grid of all of the drivers. Successful is what I’ve labored my life in the direction of and that is what I get my kicks from. In order that has been the key a part of it.
Russell mentioned his want to win overrode all different concerns when he was negotiating his new deal, and he stays conviced that Mercedes will give him a automobile able to doing simply that in 2026. Sam Bloxham/Getty Photos
“However because the summer season break, after all, every thing was nailed on. From my aspect, my drive was by no means unsure. And as I mentioned publicly earlier than, you perceive, if the staff can hold their choices open, why would not they?
“From their aspect, that they had me and Kimi below management. Why put pen to paper six months previous to when [deals expire] if you do not have to?”
That Mercedes solely now confirmed its driver line-up for subsequent yr begs the query of whether or not the staff has stored its choices open for the longer term as soon as once more, and if the identical state of affairs will likely be taking part in out in 12 months’ time.
“No, no, no,” says Russell. “I do not wish to go into particulars of what this deal entails, however I am very relaxed about the entire scenario.
“You’ll be able to have the tightest contract on the planet, however if you happen to’re not performing or issues aren’t proper inside any staff, there’s at all times methods for that to vary. So I sleep effectively at night time figuring out how effectively I am performing versus figuring out I might have a two or three or four-year contract.
“If I had a four-year contract however I wasn’t performing, I would not sleep effectively at night time versus the alternative, if that is smart.”
It’s arduous to argue with Russell’s declare that he has been performing. Simply 36 factors behind Max Verstappen in a automobile that has solely seemed really able to profitable on two events – in Canada and Singapore – he has proven stable consistency and led Mercedes alongside his rookie teammate.
Widespread consensus is that Russell can be a critical contender for the title if given the best equipment, however the driver himself accepts he can’t make calls for primarily based on hypotheses.
“Toto, he acknowledges the extent I have been acting at,” he says. “However till you’re a world champion, you are not a world champion, and that is simply the character of our sport. It is fairly complicated. It is fairly distinctive.
“I am very proud of the phrases I have been given. Am I going to be the best paid driver on the grid subsequent yr? No. I will likely be happier if I am preventing for a championship versus… I might give every thing as much as struggle and to turn out to be a world champion.
“It isn’t concerning the cash for me, or the celebrity, or something that comes with it. For me, it is about profitable. And if each single seat was out there and I may select anyplace to go and race for 2026, I might select to be with Mercedes.
“I imagine that is my finest likelihood to win the world championship. And I am positive there are a variety of drivers, if that they had the identical alternative to decide on any single staff to race with, and if each seat was out there and also you did not take into account loyalty or something, I feel numerous drivers would select Mercedes.
“That’s the info we’ve got at this time. Perhaps we’re incorrect in Melbourne, however I can not see into the longer term. I’ve made the choice primarily based on what I do know now, and I am tremendous glad.”
