At Formula 1 racing team Mercedes, the contracts of both regular pilots expire at the end of the year. It is unclear how it could go on with top driver George Russell. Everything indicates an extension, but new rumors are circulating.
The speculation about a change from Mercedes star George Russell does not tear off. In the past few months, the Briton had been traded by Red Bull’s competition when it came to finding a possible replacement for Max Verstappen – provided that it would be possible. Aston Martin also used a lot of subjunctive rumors, as the pilots Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso are firmly in the saddle.
A report by “The Race” now shows that the Brit is also being discussed at McLaren. He is a “backup option” for the current World Cup leader-a candidate for a regular cockpit, should Oscar Piatri or Lando Norris sit in a car other than the Papaya speedsters next year.
The fact that one of the two drivers voluntarily clears its place in McLaren is currently very doubtful. On the one hand, Piatri and Norris pilot the strongest car in the grid by far. On the other hand, both still have contracts by 2028 and 2027.
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Contract extension with Russell at Mercedes Probably
According to “The Race”, it is very likely that it is very likely to extend Russell at Mercedes. The question is not whether, but when. As the portal explains, its previous contract deals were announced in August (2023 for the years 2024 and 2025) and September (2021 for the years 2022 and 2023). It is possible that the silver arrows can take a similar amount of time this time.
In any case, the winner of the Kanada Grand Prize had recently made it clear that he saw his future alone at Mercedes.
“I speak to nobody and not with teams who have shown interest. I openly said that I would like to stay with Mercedes. And I am loyal to Mercedes. They gave me the chance to get into Formula 1,” said Russell, who came to the Mercedes cosmos in 2019 and initially drove for Williams and from 2022 under team boss Toto Wolff.