Insider reveals Toto Wolff's quandary for Kimi Antonelli and George Russell as Max Verstappen's shadow looms large

F1 insider Tim Hauraney believed that either George Russell or Kimi Antonelli could get a short-term deal with Mercedes, with Max Verstappen potentially available to sign at the end of the 2026 season. Mercedes team principal and CEO Toto Wolff was quite public about his interest in signing the reigning four-time F1 world champion to the German team for the coming season.

The Dutch driver had been heavily linked with the Brackley-based outfit owing to Red Bull's slump in form and internal conflicts, which resulted in them losing their grip on the current regulations to McLaren. Although Verstappen has a contract with the Austrian team until the end of the 2028 season, some performance clauses in his deal allowed him to exit the team.

However, ahead of the summer break, Max Verstappen decided to continue his time with Red Bull and race for them in the 2026 season. While appearing on The Ringer podcast, Hauraney spoke about Wolff's dilemma regarding his two drivers, Kimi Antonelli and George Russell, saying:

"If I’m George, I’m definitely pushing for at least three years plus an option. He’s going to want more money, too, after some of the Grand Prix he’s been through. George has been fantastic this year. This is the best I’ve ever seen George drive. So why would you get rid of this driver?

“I think George stays there on a longer-term deal. I think Kimi is going to be the one who’s going to have that one plus one, and then we’ll reevaluate and see where he’s at. I think maybe for Toto, he’s thinking like, I was able to deal with Rosberg and Hamilton. Maybe I can deal with Russell and Verstappen if that were ever to happen in the future.”

Both George Russell and Kimi Antonelli are out of contract at the end of the 2025 season and have scored podiums for Mercedes in the first half of the year.

George Russell defends Kimi Antonelli amidst his struggles

Mercedes driver George Russell stated that he believed that his teammate Kimi Antonelli's results have been better than they appear in the races.

Speaking with Autosport in Budapest, the Brit suggested and said:

"The fact is, his pace delta, to me, is no different, I think. In Canada, I was on pole and he qualified fourth, but he was six tenths behind me. In Belgium, he was out in Q1, and I made it to Q3 - but he was only three tenths off me. So, people look at the underlying result, but the truth is, he's still making progress, even though we, as a team, have gone backwards."

George Russell and Kimi Antonelli have combined to score 236 points thus far and helped Mercedes stay in the fight with Ferrari in the battle for P2 in the Constructors' Championship.