George Russell is expected to sign a Mercedes contract extension which will send his salary through the roof. The 27-year-old has gone from strength to strength in his three-and-a-bit seasons with the Silver Arrows, and team principal Toto Wolff is poised to reward him with a multi-year commitment and improved terms.
Russell has been a consistent performer in 2025, finishing on the podium in three out of the four Grands Prix thus far. Those results have left him within touching distance of Drivers’ Championship leader Lando Norris despite Mercedes lagging a long way behind McLaren in terms of performance.
There has been an element of uncertainty around Russell’s Mercedes future amid the growing possibility of Max Verstappen leaving Red Bull. Wolff has tried to nab the four-time world champion before, and pairing him with 18-year-old Kimi Antonelli could give the Silver Arrows a line-up that caters for the present and the future.
But Russell’s form has proved impossible to ignore. And according to Autosport, talks over a two-year contract extension with the option to include the 2028 season are ‘moving forward’.
Russell is now expected to sign a lucrative deal which will net him a whopping £25.7million per season. That represents a massive increase from his current salary, which reportedly stands at £11.6m – less than half the new annual figure.
If the signing progresses as expected, Russell would become the third-highest-paid driver on the grid behind Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. Charles Leclerc is believed to pick up a comparable amount at Ferrari, who pay him £26.3m per season, but Russell may soon have him trumped.
And it will be warranted in the eyes of Wolff, who believes him to be one of the very best drivers on the planet. He said: “All these discussions [in the off-season] about Lewis, because he is the biggest person in the sport leaving for Ferrari, great story.
“And Kimi coming in as the youngest driver, great potential. Little was said about George. I always said that is not right as he is one of the top drivers out there.
“If you want me to name three at the absolute top, he is one of those three, if not top two. And maybe on his way to top one. George is a Mercedes driver and we love having him in the team.”