Toto Wolff shares update on George Russell contract talks

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has suggested George Russell will continue with the Brackley-based squad next year despite a delay in his contract extension.

Russell is out of contract at the end of the season, having been associated with Mercedes since 2017.

Wolff is known to hold long-term interest in signing Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who has been linked with a Red Bull exit over the last year and a half.

Russell stepped up to a team leader role this year following the exit of Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari and bagged Mercedes' first win of the campaign last time out in Canada.

The victory prompted questions over Russell's future, leading Wolff to hail Russell's growth since joining the team.

“He's been with us so long and he's growing,” Wolff told media including RacingNews365.

“The steps he's made from the young driver in Williams, then coming to Mercedes at a difficult time, being on par with Lewis. 

“And then since Lewis left, being clearly the senior driver in the team, it comes naturally.

“It's not like there's some politics. He's just taken the place that he merits and deserves.”

Wolff hinted a deal would get across the line during the summer as he stated Russell no longer has to prove his talent to the team.

“The ambience in the team is great,” he said. “We must wait on some kind of timeline when we want to settle these things.

“With triple headers getting out of the way and one race after the other now in June and July. But we're going to get there. 

“He's been a Mercedes junior in the same way that Kimi was since he was 16. 

“So it isn't dependent on whether he wins a race, whether he performs, because we know he can.”