F1 icon Juan Pablo Montoya believes that George Russell and Toto Wolff might have already agreed on a long-term Mercedes contract extension, theorising that the Silver Arrows’ team principal could be ‘bringing instability’ to other teams, including Red Bull. Currently, Mercedes represents one of the big dominoes in the 2025 F1 driver market. Alongside third driver Valtteri Bottas, who is being courted by both Alpine and Cadillac, George Russell’s future is up in the air.
The four-time Grand Prix winner is without a contract for 2026 despite an exceptional first half of the season. The same goes for team-mate Kimi Antonelli, who has already bagged his first podium but is enjoying a typical incident-filled rookie season. The reason for Wolff’s reluctance to commit is, most likely, the availability of Max Verstappen.
F1’s reigning world champion is contracted with Red Bull until 2028 but is exploring his options elsewhere with the Milton Keynes squad languishing in fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship standings. With team boss Christian Horner sacked on Wednesday, there is a lot of instability at home for the Dutchman.
According to Montoya, though, Wolff might be bluffing with Russell. “Yeah, but who’s there to replace him?” the Colombian told BetVictor Casino. “There’s nobody. Is [Charles] Leclerc getting closer? I haven’t even looked at the points, but if Leclerc is getting closer, maybe, yeah.
“But honestly, George might be signed already, and Toto is trying to bring instability to everybody else. George might have a deal that’s been signed for another five years, and we’re here saying maybe George is not going to be here. Toto might just be stirring the pot.
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“What are they going to do? You look at [Liam] Lawson finally performing. He did a really good job this weekend. Yuki [Tsunoda] was performing because Yuki was doing a really good job, but nobody can perform at that Red Bull. So, what do you blame? What do you do? Where do you go from here?
“That for me is the million-dollar question with Red Bull – why is it so complicated to drive? I don’t think it’s complicated, I think it’s just so different from any other car that a guy like George, unless you had like a three or four year commitment, knowing that you’re gonna struggle but you have time to figure it out, then you wouldn’t go there.”
If correct, Montoya’s theory would leave Red Bull in a difficult spot. With Verstappen unsettled but still on site, perennial problems in the other half of the garage and a string of important personnel departures, the F1 giant would be in far from ideal shape heading into the new technical regulations.
