'Wolff was willing to work on contract', Russell opt for 'precious weeks'

15:36, 28 Aug

Updated: 17:23, 28 Aug

byKada Sarkozi

George Russell's next contract was not finalised over the summer break. The Mercedes driver explained they are in no rush.

There were constant rumours about Max Verstappen joining Mercedes over the season, but the Dutchman declared ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix that he will remain with Red Bull Racing for next season.

It appears nothing more than a formality that Russell and Kimi Antonelli will both continue for next season, but no contract extensions were announced over the summer break.

Russell explained why that is the case. "Naturally we wanted to take the summer off to sort of relax and reset, but positively moving in the right direction. But I think as there is no time pressure from the team side and no time pressure from our side, we're sort of just ensuring it's done properly," he began to GPblog among others.

"Of course, you are sort of juggling priorities. It's not like the world stops to sort the contract. We've got to worry about race weekends. We're focusing on future development, already looking ahead to next year, sponsorship days. So it's, things sometimes do take longer than you would anticipate, but as I said, positively going in the right direction."

George Russell finished on the podium at the Hungarian GP ahead of the summer break

'Wolff was willing to work on deal over the break'

The Briton then continued with saying it was his choice to take time off in the summer break, calling the weeks the drivers have to switch off 'precious'.

"Those conversations have really been picked up this week, not really through the break, because that was more my decision."

"I wanted to take the time off. Toto and the team were very willing to work through the summer break to come to a sort of resolution. But I wanted just to take that time because those two weeks are pretty precious for all of us. And it's, as I said, moving in a positive direction," the Mercedes driver explained.

He explained there is also no time frame to get a deal done. "So I think we're getting closer to being on the same page with a few things and hopefully in the coming, realistically, it's probably going to be, we're talking maybe a number of weeks before anything really happens, but there's no major rush and I don't want to really put a timeline on it. When it will happen, it will happen. If that's next week, a month, two months, three months, it will be what it will be."

Contract length 'not an obstacle'

The Briton was also asked about the potential length of the contract. He explained it's not an obstacle for him.

"I think there's pros and cons into having short term, long term. Yeah, I think for me, this season has proved [that] more than ever. Ultimately, it always comes down to performance. The number that is stated in the contract is ultimately just a number. But it's obviously something I'm thinking about what I want."

"The truth is I want to win with Mercedes, I want to win a World Championship and that is my number one goal and I hope that to be here with the team. But of course, I'm 28 next year. I'm still feeling pretty young, but at some point I need to make sure everything is right and we're all heading in the right direction. So as I said, I hope that can be with Mercedes," he concluded.