The clock is ticking for George Russell, whose Mercedes contract is set to expire at the end of 2025.

When quizzed about how he felt about his chances of being re-signed, Russell maintained a positive attitude, saying there’s “literally no stress” on his end.

When does George Russell’s Mercedes contract expire?

Several drivers on the 2025 F1 grid will be hoping to ink a contract in the next few weeks to guarantee their presence in the paddock for another year.

One such driver is George Russell. In August of 2023, the Briton signed an extension with Mercedes that would see him guaranteed a seat with the team through the end of 2025 — and that time is rapidly approaching.

His seat has also become the topic of ample rumours this year. With Max Verstappen looking ever more dissatisfied with Red Bull Racing, the four-time champion’s name has been linked to several different teams for a potential swap. Mercedes is one such team.

But as we head into the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend, is George Russell worried?

Not in the slightest.

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Speaking to Sky Sports F1 in the build-up to the Jeddah event, Russell played coy.

“Yeah, I’ll be racing for Mercedes this weekend,” he said, “and next weekend as well.”

Rachel Brooks asked, “And longer term?”

“Yes, in Silverstone, I’ll be there,” he joked.

Then, he got serious, saying, “From my side, there’s literally no stress, no worries whatsoever.

“When it comes to contracts, everyone gets so excited about it, and the fact is, drivers have had contracts, and if they don’t perform, they’ll get booted out.

“For drivers, performance is our currency. That’s what we’ve got. And if you perform, everything’s good. So, I’m just excited to go racing this weekend, focus on performance, and the future sorts itself out.”

He admitted that in previous dealings with Mercedes, he and the team had never discussed the terms of a contract prior to May or June.

It has been suggested that Russell will soon be offered a contract extending his place with Mercedes through to 2028, which could perhaps explain his lack of stress. But when asked directly about those rumours, he avoided making any concrete statements.

“Rumours are never that truthful, are they?” he asked. “When you said rumours, I didn’t really listen so much.

“A few of them are reasonably close, I guess.”

He also pointed out that these multi-year contracts currently on offer are actually quite “abnormal” for Formula 1.

“Everyone’s got exit clauses, they’ve all got performance clauses,” he said.

“A driver that’s on a three-year contract, it doesn’t really mean anything if they’ve got an exit clause, or the team has an exit clause if the driver doesn’t perform. It doesn’t really mean a lot.

“If you’ve got a contract with a team but the team wants you gone, the team finds a way to get you gone.

“That’s how this sport works, and that’s how it should work because we’re 20 of the best in the world and it’s ruthless. There’s no time to mess around. All you can do is focus on driving fast.”

And drive fast Russell has. Heading into the fifth race of the season, Russell currently sits fourth in the overall Drivers’ Championship standings, just 14 points adrift of leader Lando Norris.

Rumours or not, the Briton is making a strong case for retaining his seat beyond 2025.

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