Mercedes will also be competing in the coming Formula 1 season with George Russell (27) and Kimi Antonelli (19), thus continuing to rely on its current driver duo. The team announced this on Wednesday, four days before the US Grand Prix in Austin. Directly after the race in Singapore, team boss Toto Wolff had already revealed the development: “Both fixed”the Austrian had said.
The former series world champions did not provide any information about the contract terms; the announcement initially only refers to the year 2026. “The confirmation of our driver pairing was always just a question of when, not if”said Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff, “We wanted to take our time, conduct the negotiations properly and ensure that all parties are satisfied.” It will take place over the next three weekends “triple header” with the races taking place in Austin, Mexico City and São Paulo.
Speculation about Russell – and Verstappen
There had been some speculation about Russell in particular over the summer: initially his place at Mercedes seemed at risk because the team openly expressed interest in world champion Max Verstappen. When the Dutchman then committed to his Red Bull team, Russell hesitated for a long time before making a decision.
Russell now showed himself “Proud to continue” the “joint path. Next year I will have been under contract with Mercedes for 10 years, I’m excited to see what lies ahead – especially since one of the biggest rule changes in the history of the sport awaits us next year.”
In 2026, completely new regulations will apply in Formula 1 with regard to cars and drives. In the power unit, the electric component will then become even more important and will deliver almost half of the power.
Decent performance in 2025
Russell and Antonelli come from Mercedes’ youth program, the Englishman has been a regular driver for the Silver Arrows since 2022 and is playing a good role this season: he won two races and was on the podium eight times. He is in fourth place in the drivers’ standings behind title candidates Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris (both McLaren) and Verstappen.
Rookie Antonelli often struggled in his debut year, but also contributed his share to the overall result: with six race weekends to go, Mercedes is second in the team world championship behind world champion McLaren.