Honest advice from former F1 driver Toto Wolff amid George Russell’s contract crisis

Former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya shared a direct message to Mercedes Team manager Toto Wolff talks about renewing George Russell’s contract. The Colombian has asked Wolff to forget about the possibility of waiting for Max Verstappen to leave Red Bull and perhaps sign him for the Silver Arrows.

The biggest hurdle in Wolff’s contract negotiations with Russell appears to be the renewal term. Brackley’s team is reluctant to offer the Briton a multi-year contract, which appears to stem from Wolff’s desire to keep his options open for 2027 in the event Verstappen leaves Red Bull after next year if they perform poorly under the new technical regulations.

However, Juan Pablo Montoya feels that George Russell could be just as well Max Verstappenlevel in the future, which is why Toto Wolff needs to finalize the Briton’s contract renewal immediately.

“I don’t know what Toto Wolff is thinking, but Russell has already shown that Mercedes doesn’t need Verstappen at all,” Montoya said on his podcast for AS. “They already have Russell, and he could be as good as Verstappen in the future. This actually shows that Wolff is saying: ‘We need someone for the future’. But Russell is that person.”

At the Singapore Grand Prix weekend, Wolff told Sky Sports that the team was “Very close” To finalize George Russell’s contract and that “In terms of the contract, good things take time.”

Montoya feels Mercedes has lost leverage in George Russell’s contract negotiations

Juan Pablo Montoya also saw Mercedes as losing a significant amount of leverage in their contract negotiations George Russell As the 27-year-old’s performances continue to soar. In 2025, he won two races, including going from pole to winning the Singapore Grand Prix, in a season in which Mercedes finished third in the standings at best.

Furthermore, there is no free agent on the 2026 Formula 1 driver market whose performance can compare to Russell’s.

“The way Russell is doing now, he is forcing Mercedes to say: whatever he wants, we have to surrender,” Montoya said. “He has two wins this year with a car that was not even theoretically capable of winning.”

Silver Arrows are expected to have the best power units and lead the constructors’ battle in 2026 under the new technical regulations. This would potentially set George Russell up for the first time to contest the Drivers’ Championship.

A recent report claimed as much Russell was ready to sign a 1+1 deal Only if there was a clause in it that he would automatically extend his stay at Mercedes if he beats his teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli next year. Thanks to his experience with his fellow rookie and the team’s expected position at the top of the constructors’ table, Russell could easily activate this condition.