BRACKLEY, England — Formula 1 veteran George Russell and rookie driver Kimi Antonelli will stay with Mercedes next year after the team finally concluded a drawn-out contract renewal process.
In a statement released Wednesday, Mercedes didn’t give any details of the contracts other than revealing that its current drivers will remain with the team in 2026. Antonelli, 19, and Russell, 27, both came through Mercedes’ development program in junior series, and their immediate future remains with the organization.
Russell earned his second win of the year (and fifth in seven seasons on the international open-wheel circuit) during F1’s most recent race weekend at the Singapore Grand Prix on Oct. 5. That result strengthened the push by Mercedes to finish second in the constructors’ championship standings behind McLaren, which is already locked in as the top team for 2025 and has the top two contenders in the driver’s title race with Oscar Piastri (336 points) and Lando Norris (314) ahead of third-place Verstappen (273) and fourth-place Russell (237).
With 18 races down, there are six to go on the 2025 schedule, starting with Sunday’s U.S. Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
“Confirming our driver line-up was always just a matter of when, not if. We wanted to take our time, handle the negotiations properly and make sure everyone, on all sides, was happy,” team principal and chief executive Toto Wolff said in Wednesday’s release. “I’m pleased we have done that. George and Kimi have proved a strong pairing and we’re excited to continue our journey together.”
In June, Russell suggested one reason for a delay in contract talks might be that Mercedes was speaking to four-time reigning F1 champion Max Verstappen, who eventually confirmed he was staying with Red Bull. Russell also said his unusually close contractual relationship with the team gave him less leverage over the process than other drivers.
“From my side, Mercedes manage me as well, so it’s not really a deadline in my hands as such,” Russell said in July at the British Grand Prix, his home race.
Russell and Antonelli had relatively few options elsewhere, with the only open seats at Red Bull as Verstappen’s teammate, at its sister team Racing Bulls, or at Alpine. And with F1 set for major changes to its cars in 2026, driver stability could be in the interest of most teams.
Antonelli started his first F1 season strongly and set a record for the youngest driver in pole position when he qualified first for a sprint race in conjunction with the Miami GP in May. A poor run of results in the European portion of the schedule from later that month to September led to Wolff branding Antonelli’s performance “underwhelming” at his home Italian Grand Prix, something the driver said he’d use as extra motivation.
“I’m super excited to be continuing with the team,” Antonelli said in the release. “I’ve learnt so much in my first season in F1, both in the good moments and the more challenging ones. Those have all made me stronger, not only as a driver but as a teammate too.”