Toto Wolff labelled 'horrible' in Mercedes negotiations as George Russell handed crucial advice

Nico Rosberg has branded negotiating with Toto Wolff "horrible", claiming the Mercedes team principal "disappears" intentionally during the process.

The 2016 F1 drivers' champion raced for the Brackley-based squad from 2010 until his retirement at the end of his championship-winning season.

With current driver of the eight-time constructors' champions, George Russell, not yet signed to a deal for 2026, his future has been a considerable talking point in F1, especially with Max Verstappen closely linked to a seat with the team.

However, with the Dutchman increasingly likely to stay with Red Bull next term, attention has turned back towards when a contract extension will be announced for Russell.

Rosberg noted how "definitive" the four-time grand prix winner was when denying a deal would be in place, or confirmed, before the summer break, which commences after the Hungarian Grand Prix.

"Did you hear George Russell? He was like, 'Oh, no, definitely I won't have a contract signed by Hungary'," the German said on Sky Sports F1.

"Like, so definitive that he knows nothing's gonna happen until Hungary, so there must be something cooking there, right?"

When it was pointed out to the German that the Hungarian Grand Prix is only next week, he highlighted how the season will soon be drawing to a close after the summer.

"Sure, but it's like we're in August then. There's only a couple of months left after that to the end of the season. And he's like, 'oh no, for sure I'm not gonna have a contract yet' - that's a bit extreme, no?"

Asked what Wolff is like to negotiate with, the former Mercedes driver provided some remarkable insight into how the Austrian has a tendency to "disappear" as an avoidant strategy.

"Toto's horrible to negotiate with, because his tactic is to disappear," the 40-year-old revealed.

"So when you try... like George now, he's trying to get hold of him, Toto will disappear... George will be trying to write Toto to get him [to get] a move on, or whatever, and Toto disappears."

"And he will have figured out how to avoid the blue ticks as well," he replied when it was queried if Wolff has message receipts turned on, in reference to WhatsApp.

"So as soon as the message pops up as a notification, you just read the first part of it - you don't actually open it."

Rosberg was quick to state this was hypothetical in Russell's case, and not from inside knowledge he held on the British driver's situation, but he did draw upon his own experience of dealing with Wolff to inform the scenario.

"By the way, this is not a fact; this is just me making it up," he explained. "But I remember from my time that was his style, just like disappearing, not answering, being hard to reach... and it's horrible, because you're like, 'come on!'

"You have nothing, you have no chance... do whatever you can; you need to find a way to cross paths."