After Extending Lewis Hamilton’s Contract, Toto Wolff Takes Final Call on George Russell’s Mercedes’ Future

Apart from improving the state of the W14, the second most troublesome issue for Mercedes has been resolving the contract situation with Lewis Hamilton. The Brit’s expiring contract at the end of 2023 was a big concern for Mercedes and a huge topic of discussion for the entire world of F1. Despite his healthy and long-term relationship with the team, there were a lot of doubts all because of the car’s competitiveness. However, after stalling it for possibly the longest time, Hamilton is on the verge of putting pen to paper. Now that the no. 1 agenda for Mercedes is complete, the boss Toto Wolff has turned his attention to George Russell.

Hamilton’s contract situation is in the final stages, and despite multiple warnings, Wolff turned his attention to Russell. After joining the team at the end of the 2021 season, Russell has only impressed. In fact, Russell got the better of Hamilton in his first season with the Silver Arrows, a feat only one other driver has achieved.

So after his brilliant first season, there was only one direction in which Russell’s relationship with Mercedes could go. If your speculation is toward a long future, you are right.

As reported on Twitter, Russell has extended his Mercedes contract. The Brit will be driving for Mercedes until the end of the 2025 season at least. This is incredible news for all Mercedes fans as the team is on the verge of locking their powerful driver lineup until at least 2025.

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However, there are some who believe Mercedes shouldn’t extend Russell’s contract for one specific reason.

Amidst the priority toward Lewis Hamilton, F1 expert believes Mercedes should not extend George Russell’s contract

Russell is among the best from the coming generation of F1 drivers. In fact, many view him as a future world champion. The Brit definitely put some faith in these claims with his performance in the previous season. However, this is specifically why F1 veteran Peter Windsor believes Russell’s contract should not be extended.

Windsor believes Russell will threaten Hamilton’s authority at Mercedes as the car gets better. The Brit who’s chasing his elusive eighth championship title will not would his teammate to get in the way. This provoked Windsor into making this controversial suggestion.

He said, “If I was now drafted in as team principal at Mercedes, I would say, ‘George, here’s the contract. It’s in two pieces now, mate. If you want to keep driving, no problem, sign on the dotted line here, and you will never finish in front of Lewis Hamilton. Sorry.’”

Now that Russell will be a Mercedes driver till 2025 and so will Hamilton, according to reports, it will be interesting to see how they get along. Let’s hope Mercedes does have to deal with a repeat of 2016.

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