Martin Brundle feels George Russell-Mercedes power dynamics now lean towards the driver

British pundit Martin Brundle feels the power dynamics between George Russell and Mercedes have changed and are now more in favor of the British driver. The 2025 F1 season is the last year in Russell's contract with the team, and the driver has been in conversations with the German team for a contract extension.

In any other situation, the contract extension should have been a straightforward thing for Russell. He's performing at a very high level, and it does appear that since Lewis Hamilton has left, he's taken over the leadership role within the team.

While this should ideally be the case, the problem for George Russell was Max Verstappen's availability. It did appear that the Dutch driver was looking for a way out of Red Bull, and there were a few conversations between the driver and team boss Toto Wolff.

Through all of this, Russell has been forced to sit and wait on the sidelines as his future was in the hands of Mercedes. With Verstappen announcing that he's staying at Red Bull for the 2026 F1 season, the door to the German team is closed for now.

Talking about the situation, Martin Brundle said on the Sky Sports broadcast that it did appear that the power dynamics had changed at Mercedes. Earlier, it was more towards the team, and this time around it has moved towards the driver. He said to Sky Sports,

"Performance is everything, there's no doubt about it. They all roughly know what each other earn, so George is not going to want to be underpaid. Why should he be? He’ll want some certainty. What he won’t want to do is find himself in this position again next year if Max Verstappen happens to be on the market. If I was managing George, I would have said, ‘Don’t say you’ll drive for nothing’ or ‘don’t say you’ll pay, please, because that’s going to come back and hurt us somewhere’."

He added,

"But I know the point he was trying to make. The cards have turned around, haven’t they? Because suddenly George Russell is by far and away the best driver available in the world of Formula 1 who doesn’t have a contract next year. So now, suddenly, he’s like, ‘I’m going to slow this down a little bit.’ That’s how I’m reading it."

George Russell on his decision-making for signing a contract

Talking to the media, including Sportskeeda, George Russell laid down what he felt would be the criteria for him to sign a new contract. The driver talked about how the duration has to be correct for both sides. At the same time, he felt that the decision should feel right for both sides. He said,

"I'm seven years into Formula 1 right now. I feel that I'm at my peak, and I still feel that I'm getting stronger as a driver. I was maybe more anxious about getting a deal done maybe 12 months ago than six months ago ahead of 2026. But right now, I've sort of waited so long, I want to make sure it's right, and it's got to be right for the team. It's got to be right for myself."

"It's got to all make sense. The duration has to be right both ways. So it's not as simple as just saying, like, are you happy with what you're being paid. I mean, that's a very small factor of it. You've got to have faith in the performance as well in future. Because, I would pay to be a world champion. Pay to fight for a world championship. And that's where I am right now, and that is the priority," George Russell added.

It is an interesting situation here where Max Verstappen's future is seemingly sorted already, but the future of George Russell has not yet been finalized. Whether this is because there are still negotiations going on, possibly about the duration of the contract or something else, is a question we do not have an answer for at the moment.