Nico Rosberg recalled how he found Toto Wolff \u201chorrible\u201d to negotiate with, the Mercedes boss making a vanishing act his \u201ctactic\u201d.<\/p>\n
Rosberg made that reveal as George Russell continues his wait for a new Mercedes<\/a> contract, the team yet to announce a decision on either seat for F1 2026.<\/p>\n Is George Russell now dealing with \u2018horrible\u2019 Toto Wolff tactic?<\/p>\n Russell is piecing together arguably his strongest F1 campaign to date, winning from pole in Canada and adding a further four podium finishes to his season achievements so far.<\/p>\n Yet, Russell has not been given a new contract to extend his Mercedes career beyond F1 2025 as it stands, with rookie team-mate Kimi Antonelli in the same boat, amid swirling speculation that Mercedes could snatch reigning four-time World Champion Max Verstappen away from Red Bull.<\/p>\n Confirming ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix that \u201cI still have no reason to be concerned about my future with Mercedes<\/a>\u201c, Russell\u2019s situation had Rosberg recalling his past experiences of contract negotiations with Wolff, the Mercedes team boss and one-third owner.<\/p>\n While stressing Russell is not for certain experiencing the same thing, if he is, Rosberg says the Brit will find that Wolff \u201cdisappears\u201d on him, which is far from ideal when it comes to sorting out your F1 future.<\/p>\n \u201cToto\u2019s horrible to negotiate with, because his tactic is to disappear,\u201d Rosberg revealed, the 2016 World Champion having served as a Sky F1 pundit in Belgium.<\/p>\n \u201cSo when you try\u2026 like George now, he\u2019s trying to get hold of him, Toto will disappear. George will be trying to write Toto to get him [to get] a move on, or whatever, and Toto disappears.<\/p>\n \u201cBy the way, this is not a fact; this is just me making it up. But I remember from my time that was his style, just like disappearing, not answering, being hard to reach\u2026 and it\u2019s horrible, because you\u2019re like, \u2018come on!\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cYou have nothing, you have no chance\u2026 do whatever you can; you need to find a way to cross paths.\u201d<\/p>\n Nonetheless, Russell and Antonelli are expected to be confirmed by Mercedes for F1 2026<\/a>, with Verstappen remaining at Red Bull.<\/p>\n Latest F1 2025 head-to-head standings<\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates<\/a><\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates<\/a><\/p>\n Verstappen is under contract at Red Bull until the end of 2028, but speculation of a move to Mercedes has been fuelled by the existence of a performance-related exit clause in that deal, one which it is believed Verstappen could have triggered, had he been P4 or lower in the Drivers\u2019 Championship<\/a> after this weekend\u2019s Hungarian Grand Prix.<\/p>\n P4 Russell is 28 points behind Verstappen going into that race, with a maximum of 25 up for grabs, which based on that information, means the clause could no longer be triggered this year.<\/p>\n Wolff hinted at some positive news coming for Russell, as he spoke about the Mercedes driver saga at the Belgian GP.<\/p>\n Asked by Sky F1 if Russell\u2019s contract situation was making him drive better, Wolff replied: \u201cNo. As a driver, he\u2019s so mature and stable that I don\u2019t think that makes any difference on performance.<\/p>\n \u201cOn the contrary, I would wish to have him in a safe place a little bit earlier.<\/p>\n \u201cWe haven\u2019t managed to do that now, but I\u2019m optimistic that he\u2019s going to sleep well over the summer break.\u201d<\/p>\n