The F1 Austrian Grand Prix is held against a background of the Styrian Alps, but Toto Wolff hit the Red Bull Ring amid claims that Mercedes want to sign Max Verstappen.

While Mercedes set the pace in FP1 with George Russell and McLaren led the way in FP2 via Lando Norris, the on-track action this Friday was overshadowed by the future of Verstappen. He might hold a Red Bull contract through the 2028 F1 season, but gossip is never far away.

Red Bull wasted very little time to tie Verstappen down to a new contract on the back of the 27-year-old winning the first of his four consecutive F1 drivers’ championship titles. Yet their time together can end much sooner, as Verstappen has multiple release clauses in his terms.

It has long been said that Verstappen can leave Red Bull at the end of 2025 if he sits outside of the top three in the standings by this summer. But it has now even been said that an exit clause in Verstappen’s contract will activate after the Austrian GP as he is not in the top two.

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Toto Wolff knows he risks repeating his Lewis Hamilton mistake by giving George Russell a shorter contract

Russell revealed that Mercedes are in ‘ongoing’ talks with Verstappen ahead of the Austrian GP, as well, to further help fuel the claims linking the Dutchman with taking the Briton’s seat in 2026. The 27-year-old and his rookie teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli are out of contract.

Verstappen has not totally rubbished the reports linking him with a move to Brackley, either. RACER quotes the Red Bull pilot noting in Spielberg that his future is ‘not really on my mind’, as the Dutchman wants to focus on his 43-point deficit to Oscar Piastri in the championship.

Yet Russell and Verstappen’s revelations only increase the feeling that Mercedes are looking to finalise their 2026 driver contracts with the Red Bull racer in mind. That is not to say that the Dutchman will replace the Briton, but Wolff wants to keep the door open for the future.

Wolff is ‘aware’, however, that giving Russell a shorter-term contract to allow Mercedes the chance to sign Verstappen in the future would risk repeating their mistake which saw Lewis Hamilton join Ferrari. He knows Russell may speak to rival teams if he does not feel wanted.

Mercedes last signed Russell to a new contract in August 2023, as they also gifted Hamilton new terms that locked both Britons in through 2025. But Hamilton’s terms then emerged to be just a one-plus-one-year contract, so he signed a two-year Ferrari deal in February 2024.

Could George Russell join Aston Martin if Mercedes do not offer him a new contract?

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It is suggested that Mercedes desperately want to sign Verstappen as the Silver Arrows think Russell and Antonelli cannot fill the commercial void that Hamilton left by joining Ferrari. He can offer Mercedes a new champion to market after losing the statistical greatest of all time.+

Anthony Davidson feels Wolff would be a ‘fool’ not to give Russell a new Mercedes contract, given the King’s Lynn native has stepped up to fill Hamilton’s shoes as their team leader. But the Briton may have to look elsewhere even for as soon as 2026, as Wolff wants Verstappen.

Verstappen is considering joining Mercedes in 2026, as well, and Russell is starting to doubt Wolff wants to give him a new contract after entering the last six months of his current deal. A few rival F1 crews are now thought to be monitoring the Briton’s situation in Brackley, too.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has held informal talks with Russell, given the outfit in Milton Keynes could need an elite-calibre driver to replace Verstappen. Aston Martin have expressed an interest in signing Russell, as well, while they plan for the 2026 F1 regulations.