It took George Russell and Mercedes 10 races to claim their first victory of the Formula 1 season in 2025, one less than it took them last year.
The Canadian Grand Prix was a tense affair, but the Silver Arrows held on and managed to build themselves a little bit of a gap in the constructors’ championship.
Russell is just 62 points from the top in the drivers’ standings, and cannot be ruled out of the fight yet. With development akin to last year’s McLaren, he could yet make a title charge.
Most encouragingly for Mercedes, both drivers showed pace after being way off the boil in the recent European triple header. It was an apt recovery from a dismal run of form.
Russell’s Mercedes had a ‘win-win’ upgrade on his rear suspension in Montreal, which may have helped him on his way to victory.
Red Bull protested the result, but failed. Mercedes left Christian Horner red-faced by producing one piece of evidence that seemed to contradict his claims.
READ MORE: Toto Wolff now giving signals around the F1 paddock that a big driver decision is imminent at Mercedes
George Russell’s rivals won’t like what Mercedes chief just said about their 2025 F1 plans
F1 fans labelled the FIA ‘a joke’ after taking hours to come to a conclusion over Red Bull’s protest. They feel as if it should have been sorted much sooner.
But Mercedes might yet have more success to enjoy this season if they can consistently maintain the form they showed in Canada.
Simone Resta revealed in the Akkodis Race Debrief that the team will continue to bring little upgrades at every race, which isn’t what their rivals will want to hear.
“Of course, we’ve got new parts also coming to the car in those races that will always help improving the performance,” he said. “So let’s see, let’s see what we can get [achieve] in Austria.”
Russell proved Mercedes right by re-installing a car part in Canada, which had previously been dropped from their machine. The more that they now add, the further away they will pull from the likes of Ferrari and Red Bull at a critical time.
READ MORE: Toto Wolff ‘surprised’ George Russell wasn’t affected by recurring Mercedes issue at the Canadian Grand Prix
When George Russell’s next Formula 1 deal could be announced
Currently, Mercedes have no drivers under contract heading into the 2026 F1 regulations, and it’s the first time since they returned to the grid in 2010 that this has been the case.
The two young drivers they’ve invested most heavily in over the last decade or so are both driving for them now, and although it’s likely they will retain them, there are no guarantees.
Russell’s next F1 deal could be announced in the summer break, and winning another race in Canada won’t have done his position in negotiations any harm.
The only curveball that could be thrown would be if Max Verstappen was to suddenly become available, but it doesn’t seem like that will be the case. Red Bull are not in a terrible position.
Leave feedback about this