Where will George Russell be in 2026? Speculation has run rampant of late; the longer Mercedes takes to make a decision about his future, the more teams the British driver has been linked to.

Mercedes, though, may very well have addressed this speculation in the midst of the Monaco Grand Prix.

Mercedes address George Russell contract speculation

The longer it takes Mercedes to re-sign driver George Russell, the more speculation has blossomed in the wake of any definitive answer.

Silly season has kicked off quite early this year; though few contracts have been signed just yet, speculation has run rampant as pundits wonder whether or not Max Verstappen will vacate a struggling Red Bull, and how the dominoes of the rest of the grid will fall in its wake.

Russell is one of several drivers whose contract expires at the close of the 2025 F1 season, and while he’s been optimistic about the prospect of being re-signed by the team that also manages his career, the British racer has been spotted chatting with other folks in the paddock — perhaps feeling out a future.

At the season opener in Australia, Russell paid a visit to McLaren heads Zak Brown and Andrea Stella; in China, Russell was spotted embracing Flavio Briatore of Alpine. In April, reports suggested that Russell held tentative talks with Christian Horner should a seat open at Red Bull.

But a new interview in the Times has now linked Russell to Aston Martin, with the team “understood to be one of those who have expressed interest in him.”

It wouldn’t be too terribly shocking to find that’s the case; after all, Aston Martin is currently in the throes of revamping its organization. On top of opening brand new, state-of-the-art team facilities, it has hired the likes of legendary designer Adrian Newey to lead the team into a new regulatory set come 2026.

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Yet for all the speculation, a hint for Russell’s future was tucked into a broadcast after FP1 in Monaco.

There, the Sky Sports crew spoke with Bradley Lord, the chief communication officer at the Mercedes F1 team — and naturally, George Russell’s future was the topic of conversation.

Former driver turned pundit Martin Brundle raised the issue of the British racer’s future, pointing out that if Mercedes hadn’t re-signed him yet, then clearly they must be waiting for Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen to make a decision about his future; after all, Verstappen has been casually tied to Mercedes should he find it necessary to make a swap.

“I thought you’d probably try and put me on the spot with something like that, Martin!” Lord laughed.

Though he didn’t directly address the Verstappen issue, Lord went on to reply, “We’re under no rush.

“We manage George’s career, as well as being the team that he drives for at the moment, but we know there’s no pressure. He’s fully focused on, how do we perform in this triple header? How do we keep the car moving forward?

“Then at the right time, he and Toto will sit down and, as they always say, it doesn’t take terribly long to thrash these things out.

“That hasn’t happened yet, but certainly will in the, you know, weeks and months ahead.”

Lord’s ‘certainly’ could be taken as either a turn of phrase or a guarantee for Russell’s future, thereby making it tough to definitively provide an answer as to where the British racer will be competing in 2026 — but for the moment, all signs point right back to Mercedes.

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