A Bold New Update Promised to Turn Mercedes’ Season Around – Now Russell and Antonelli Are Struggling Just to Keep Up, and What the Team Boss Just Admitted Changes Everything.
Mercedes have been inconsistent performers so far during the 2025 Formula 1 season and their form shows no signs of becoming any more predictable.
After winning the Canadian Grand Prix, they’ve picked up just 11 points from the next two races. They haven’t picked up any momentum.
With rumours tying Mercedes to Max Verstappen now starting to fizzle a bit, they can begin to focus on maximising their on-track performance again.
Both George Russell and Kimi Antonelli are out of contract at the end of the season, but following the next race in Spa, a summer break should allow the opportunity for discussions.
‘Sources within Mercedes’ insist Verstappen didn’t hold talks with team boss Toto Wolff, and that no further progress on a deal has been made.
Who would make way for the potential signing of the Dutchman is fascinating. Guenther Steiner thinks Mercedes are making one crucial error, and believes that Antonelli should be dropped over Russell.
Photo by Bryn Lennon – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images
Mercedes face ‘challenge’ to validate upgrade package with one practice session at Spa
The Formula 1 calendar is 24 races long in 2025, and six of those events are considered ‘sprint’ weekends, with just one practice session.
It’s a bit of a nightmare for the teams, who have little time to prepare their cars and setups for Sunday, but it does help mix things up a little.
Russell’s Mercedes deal has reached an ‘impasse’ as he seeks more long-term security, but it seems his team may not be willing to offer it. They continue to press on the track for the time being.
That includes new upgrades at the upcoming sprint weekend at the Belgian Grand Prix, with the format offering both drivers a challenge to make sure that their additions are meaningful.
“We’ve got some performance updates coming in both Spa and Hungary. Opportunities to make step forwards there,” said Mercedes’ Chief Communications Officer, Bradley Lord.
“Likewise, we’ve got a sprint weekend in Spa, so just one practice session and then we’ve got to be right on it and straight into qualifying. It’s going to be a challenge, but we’re hopeful of being able to give a much better showing than we did either in Silverstone or in Austria last week.”
Why Mercedes still have a lot to fight for in the 2025 F1 season
With Mercedes being in a tight race for second place in the constructors’ championship, there’s a lot of prize money on offer for managing to beat Ferrari to second-best honours.
Mercedes’ chairman has given the ‘green light’ for Verstappen, but the team also has to be quick enough to convince him to join.
In other words, they have some very strong reasons to be doing well currently. With the 2026 F1 regulations rapidly approaching, they want to carry as much momentum as possible.
It’s rare for a front-running team to have no contracted drivers for the following year heading into the summer break, but it’s an ordeal that will be sorted in the coming months, with a fascinating conclusion.
