George Russell needs a new contract but that is a far less urgent problem for Mercedes right now than the issues they have with Kimi Antonelli and, most crucially, their car

Mercedes are scratching their heads over their performance decline(Image: PA)

Mercedes have summoned their drivers to a crunch meeting at their Brackley base today. At the top of the agenda is their car which has gone from being a consistently impressive machine in the early weeks of the season to a shadow of its former self.

The Silver Arrows started the year very well with George Russell leading their charge on track. Four podiums for the Brit from the first six races positioned Mercedes as a strong contender to be ‘best of the rest’ behind obvious pace-setters McLaren, while teenager Kimi Antonelli also adjusted well to life as a Formula 1 driver.

But since the European leg of the season began, things have gone awry. Other than a stellar Canadian Grand Prix weekend, which saw Russell take his maiden victory of 2025 and Antonelli his first ever podium in F1, it has been a dreadful couple of months for Mercedes.

Reliability woes have hurt them, but even more concerning has been the genuine lack of pace since introducing some upgrades. At the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday, Antonelli finished well outside the points after a poor qualifying result, while Russell was fifth but a long way off the cars ahead.

“It was very underwhelming in terms of the performance,” said the 27-year-old afterwards, clearly frustrated with how the season is getting away from his team. He also called it their “worst performance of the season” and added: “We need to really understand what is going on and why we’ve taken such a step backwards.”

Mercedes are wasting no more time. Both Russell and Antonelli have been summoned, alongside the key heads of department, for that meeting at their factory as the team tries to get a handle on what is going wrong ahead of the fast-approaching Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend.

The car’s decreased driveability, particularly in qualifying spec, has contributed significantly to the struggles of Antonelli. Across the six European events held so far this year, three each either side of that red-letter day in Montreal, the Italian teenager did not score a single point. His record reads four DNFs, 18th place in Monaco and 16th place at Spa-Francorchamps on Sunday.

That picture is made to look so bad partly because of reliability problems he has suffered. But more concerning for Mercedes, and what must surely be a priority for team principal Toto Wolff, is helping the youngster pick himself back up after he admitted in Belgium that he is suffering from a crisis of confidence as a result of his wretched run.

Antonelli was visibly emotional as he said after qualifying: “Since the European season, I’ve been struggling to find confidence with the car. I feel like I’ve done a backwards step. It’s just a difficult moment for me. I feel like I have no confidence on pushing… I’m trying to change the way I’m driving too much and it feels like I’m not driving naturally. It’s very forced, the way I’m driving.”

Mercedes need to sort out new contracts for their drivers with Max Verstappen almost certainly staying with Red Bull for now. But far more urgent tasks for Wolff are putting an arm around Antonelli to stop him spiralling further, and giving both he and Russell a car in which they can place their trust again.