George Russell‘s strong start to the season appears to be translating into a contract extension with Mercedes soon. The current contract of the 27-year-old Brit expires at the end of this season. Russell stood on the podium for the third time this year in Bahrain, managing to keep Lando Norris behind him despite a damaged brake pedal.
Multiple podium finishes pay off! According to Motorsport-Total.com, George Russell is close to signing a new contract with Mercedes. The German medium reports that negotiations have already taken place between both parties in recent days. Russell currently ranks fourth in the drivers’ standings, fourteen points behind championship leader Lando Norris. The results speak for themselves – three podium finishes in four races, including a second place in Bahrain. He only finished ‘just’ fifth in Japan.
Long Mercedes Contract for Russell
Mercedes reportedly wants to secure him for a longer period. Russell is expected to sign a new two-year contract soon, with an option to extend until 2028. This agreement would be worth approximately thirty million dollars per season. His current contract – which expires this year – is estimated by experts to be worth about fifteen million dollars per year. Last year, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff showed interest in Max Verstappen, but he now seems satisfied with the current line-up of Russell and Antonelli.
After the GP of Bahrain, Toto Wolff praised the British driver, who managed to keep Lando Norris behind him and finish second – despite a damaged brake pedal. “The brake-by-wire system suddenly failed,” Wolff explained to the media in Sakhir. “It took us a while to find the right settings to reset it, but we succeeded. He mastered the system from start to finish, with Lando Norris on his heels. That’s just incredible. The fact that he delivers this podium to us with damage to the car is a fantastic result.”
