Totowolf says Mercedes may not make a major announcement when the deal is agreed, but will continue with the current lineup of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli drivers in 2026.
Russell and Antonelli do not yet have an extension of the contract confirmed by Mercedes. Russell says he is not in a hurry to finalise details of the transaction on Zandvoort. Wolff admits there are certain sticking points related to schedules from races that still require ironing, but he admits that both drivers will compete for teams next year.
“We’re doing this so we’ve always said there wouldn’t be any big news,” Wolf said. “Of course, we’re both going on. George has some things we want to optimize how many hours we ride on travel and marketing days. He’s an experienced driver and it’s always important for us to talk about it.
“We want to have the best performance of our drivers and I think we put a considerable strain on both drivers’ marketing and media activities. This is how we readjust. Are there any announcements at Monza? No.
While Russell was fighting for third place in the Driver Championship, Antonelli had the incident-filled Dutch Grand Prix. After getting back on track to finish FP1 early, Antonelli failed to reach the third quarter, but produced a strong fight back drive before scoring a penalty to collide with Charles Leclerc.
“When we made it clear at Monza last year that we were giving him a chance, we said that we gave him a year of learning, there were moments that tear his hair off, and there were other moments of glow.
“The mistake in FP1 is obviously something that puts him on his hind legs for the weekend. And there’s a great driving moment in the race. After he was in free air, he was behind McLaren, he was the fastest car and unfortunately got involved in that accident, which marked the end of Charles’ race and your race.
“But we want him to go on the move. Clearly. And the ups and downs, and I was absolutely hoping for it from this season. Those days will be learning next year. We are not fighting for the constructors championship. Of course, it’s not in danger of P2 and P3, but this is less important than next year.”
