George Russell has responded to rumours suggesting that he might be about to sign a new contract with Mercedes, with the Briton admitting that his focus is on what is happening on the track given that “if you perform, everything is good”.
The 2025 campaign has marked Russell’s strongest start to a season to date, the Silver Arrows driver having scored three podium finishes across the opening four races which included a hard-fought P2 – amid a host of car issues – in last weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix.
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This has sparked speculation that a new deal could be in the works for Russell to extend his stay with the team but, when asked about his future on media day ahead of the upcoming Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the 27-year-old initially played it coy as he joked: “I’ll be racing for Mercedes this weekend and next weekend as well.”
Mercedes’ Russell sees Bahrain P2 as ‘the validation we needed’ for ‘more rounded’ 2025 car
However, Russell went on to admit that he is not worried about the situation, adding: “From my side there’s literally no stress, no worries whatsoever. I think when it comes to contracts everyone gets so excited about it.
“The fact is, drivers have had contracts and if they don’t perform they get booted out. For drivers, performance is our currency – that’s what we’ve got, and if you perform everything is good, so I’m just excited to go racing this weekend, focus on performance and the future sorts itself out.”
Pushed further on whether there was any truth to some of the rumours that are circulating, Russell responded: “A few of them are reasonably close I guess, but at the end of the day we’ve never discussed a contract prior to May or June in a season.
Russell believes that «the future sorts itself out» if he continues to perform well
“I would say the more abnormal point is how many drivers have these long-term deals but everyone has got exit clauses – they’ve all got performance clauses, so a driver who is on a three-year contract, [it] doesn’t really mean anything if they’ve got an exit clause, or the team has an exit clause if the driver doesn’t perform.
“So, as I said, it doesn’t really mean a lot and if you’ve got a contract with a team but the team wants you gone, the team finds a way to get you gone.
“That’s how this sport works and how it should work, because we’re 20 of the best in the world and it’s ruthless, there’s no time to mess around. All you can do is focus on driving fast.”
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