Mercedes group principal Toto Wolff insists a brand new contract is near being agreed with George Russell within the wake of his victory within the Singapore Grand Prix.
Russell is out of contract on the finish of the season and has but to finalize phrases on an extension, regardless of Wolff saying the present Mercedes line-up will proceed into 2026. Russell took his second win of the yr in Singapore – a venue the place he crashed out of a podium spot in 2023 – and Wolff stated the 27-year-old has developed right into a driver able to dominating when given the best equipment.
“I feel we have seen George prior to now with these moments [of mistakes], however not just lately, and that is the step-up that he has made additionally this yr, that these items do not occur once more,” Wolff stated. “He was accountable for the race, eking out a bonus, managing it when Max [Verstappen] was a bit nearer, and there was not at any second a doubt that there was any danger in his driving.
“He is been formidable this yr. I have never seen errors. There have been weekends that he himself stated I might have performed extra, that it wasn’t a superb race, however this occurs with any driver.
“You possibly can see when it simply merges – the automotive being in an ideal house, and the driving force being up to the mark – that turns into the dominant components, and that’s what we have seen right here.
“Contract-wise, good issues take some time. It is concerning the element and it isn’t concerning the large matters.”
Russell’s win got here after Mercedes delivered an unexpectedly sturdy efficiency all through the weekend, and Wolff admitted he is undecided the place the tempo got here from in Singapore.
“ with these vehicles, they’re only a shock field,” he stated. “When you ask McLaren why the final three races have not gone [as well], they’d most likely wrestle for solutions. In the identical method, Max coming again after which missing efficiency once more [on Sunday], and the identical with the Ferraris oscillating between success and failure.
“It is simply that the margins are so small in having the automotive in the best aerodynamic window, in extracting the utmost mechanical grip with out killing the tires, and the candy spot of the Pirellis, clearly. And it does not at all times correlate what you see within the digital world, within the simulations, to what occurs on the monitor.”
