Russell unsurprised "conversations with the likes of Verstappen are ongoing" at Mercedes

George Russell has seemingly confirmed that there are ongoing discussions between Mercedes and Max Verstappen ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix. This comes as the Briton is yet to sign a contract with the team for the 2026 season onwards.

When asked by Sky Sports F1 about the progress of talks over his contract, Russell was his usual open book, admitting that there are "no major updates".

"Yeah, a little bit. No major updates yet," he confirmed. With both Russell's and team-mate Kimi Antonelli's contracts coming to an end at the season close, the future of the Brackley outfit is so far unconfirmed. But Russell isn't "pressing massively" while he remains focussed on his own performance. 

"I feel with the performance I'm showing at the moment - still in line with the performance I've shown over all these years - I've got zero reasons to be worried.

 "But obviously, it does help if there was pen on paper. But let's see."

The British driver has certainly delivered so far this season, with him taking his first win at the Canadian Grand Prix after a string of solid performances, especially towards the start of the season. These mostly consistent performances, including five podium finishes, have resulted in him sitting fourth in the standings, 19 points behind Red Bull's Verstappen.

Mercedes is currently second in the constructors' championship, but the fight for second continues to be competitive. 

George Russell, Mercedes

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images

“From my side, I don’t think I have anything really to worry about. I think, as a team, it depends where you put your aspirations,” he continued.

Interestingly, Russell was keen to address the speculation surrounding Verstappen, seemingly confirming that talks between the Dutchman and Mercedes were taking place.

“As Mercedes, they want to be back on top, and if you’re going to be back on top you need to make sure you’ve got the best drivers, the best engineers, the best pit crew, and that’s what Mercedes are chasing. So, it’s only normal that conversations with the likes of Verstappen are ongoing."

There is tension between Russell and Verstappen, with the two butting heads on more than one occasion. But the Mercedes driver isn't giving this supposed rivalry too much attention. 

"That's not even something I think about," he told Motorsport.com and other media on the Thursday ahead of Austria. "I think when you're racing against the best and you're racing against the most aggressive, you need to stand tall and make sure you have your elbows out and give as much as the opponent will give. So that is sort of my approach when racing somebody of his calibre, but ultimately, I'm going about my own business. 

"I'm fighting for myself, my team, and if Max and I have come together a few times over the last six months, that's just the way it's panned out."

While team chief Toto Wolff has reassured Russell on his place in the team, the driver opened the door to his team-mate's seat being potentially up for grabs as well.

"Toto has made it clear to me that he thinks how I'm performing this year is as good as anybody," he said. "I think there's only one driver that you can debate in terms of performance - these are his words, these are not my words - so that's why I have no concern about the future.

"But there's two seats at every team and I guess he needs to think, who are those two drivers going to be for those two seats, and I guess that's what the delay is."