“Toto Wolff is horrible to negotiate with”: Ex-Mercedes star makes claim about the Austrian amid George Russell contract dilemma

Former Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg shed light on some of Toto Wolff's negotiation tactics amid George Russell's contract dilemma with Mercedes. Speaking about his days at Silver Arrows, Rosberg stated that it was "horrible" to negotiate contracts with the Austrian executive.

Rosberg raced with Mercedes for seven years, from 2010 to 2016. He arrived from Williams to partner with seven-time world champion, Michael Schumacher, and retired from the team, as well as from F1, at the end of 2016.

Since 2022, Russell has been a dependable figure at Mercedes, and coming into 2026, his contract is set to expire. Amid this, Rosberg has dropped an interesting claim on Wolff's negotiating habits.

"Toto’s horrible to negotiate with, because his tactic is to disappear,” Rosberg said. "So when you try… like George now, he’s trying to get hold of him, Toto will disappear. George will be trying to write Toto to get him [to get] a move on, or whatever, and Toto disappears."

"By the way, this is not a fact; this is just me making it up. But I remember from my time that was his style, just like disappearing, not answering, being hard to reach… and it’s horrible, because you’re like, ‘come on! You have nothing, you have no chance… do whatever you can; you need to find a way to cross paths." (Via PlanetF1)

George Russell arrived at Mercedes to partner Lewis Hamilton. However, after Hamilton left at the end of 2024, he became the de facto leader at Silver Arrows and acted as the guide to rookie Kimi Antonelli.

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George Russell is set to receive a contract extension at Mercedes

George Russell is all set to receive a contract extension from Mercedes in the upcoming weeks. According to a recent update by Sky Sports, the Briton is closing in on an agreement on a multi-year, multi-million dollar contract that will see him at Brackley for at least until the end of 2027.

George Russell of Mercedes and Yuki Tsunoda of Red Bull Racing ahead of the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps in Spa, Belgium on July 27, 2025 - Source: Getty

The report of Russell's contract renewal at Mercedes comes amid Max Verstappen's decision to stay at Red Bull. The Dutchman had been heavily linked with a move to Mercedes. But now it appears that he is all set to stay at Red Bull.

Currently, George Russell is in P4 in the Drivers' Standings with 157 points after 13 races and three Sprints. His teammate, Kimi Antonelli, is in P7 with 63 points. Mercedes is in P3 with 220 points in the Constructors' Championship.