Max Verstappen of Red Bull has re-emerged as a title rival for McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, yet another driver has impressed Jenson Button the most this year.
It was increasingly looking like a straight fight between the McLaren pilots for the F1 drivers’ championship after Piastri won the Dutch Grand Prix to hold a 34-point lead over Norris and 104 to Verstappen. Yet the Red Bull star hit back with successive wins in Italy and Azerbaijan.
Now, one race after Helmut Marko claimed Verstappen had “no chance” to win the 2025 F1 title, the four-time reigning champion is back in the fight with seven rounds left. Verstappen trails Piastri by 69 points and Norris by 44 points ahead of this week’s Singapore Grand Prix.
Verstappen still needs a lot to go in his favour to win the title this term, but the Dutchman’s consistency during the 2025 F1 season and ability to extract everything out of his RB21 have kept him in the fight. Yet not even Verstappen has outshone one driver, according to Button.
Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesJenson Button thinks no F1 driver is ‘doing a better job’ than George Russell in 2025
Button is in awe of the results that George Russell has produced with Mercedes thus far this year. So, the 2009 F1 champion is “surprised” that the Silver Arrows are yet to give Russell a new contract, with the 27-year-old currently set to be a free agent at the end of this season.
READ MORE: Mercedes driver George Russell’s life outside F1 from net worth to height
Position Drivers’ Championship PointsPts 1 324 2 299 3 255 4 212 5 165
Russell has been in talks with the Brackley bunch about a new deal all year, but they are yet to reach an agreement. Mercedes only want to offer Russell a one-year contract to ensure a door is left ajar in case Verstappen can end his contract with Red Bull after the 2026 season.
Button hopes Russell and Mercedes agree to his new contract soon as his British compatriot could “definitely” win the drivers’ championship if he gets a car that is capable of winning a title. Russell joined Mercedes in 2022 as their dominance ended with the ground-effect cars.
“Hopefully [Russell will get a new contract] soon because the job he’s doing this year, I don’t think anyone’s really doing a better job,” Button told Sky Sports F1 (03/10, 10:18). “He’s been exceptional. He really is, and he’s still so young. It’s not like he’s at the end of his career.
“I’m surprised that there hasn’t been a contract signed and, hopefully, [he] will soon. [Baku] wasn’t a great weekend for him up until the race. I think he was a bit poorly at the start of the weekend. But, still, what a result to come away with the P2.”
Max Verstappen’s potential availability for 2027 is delaying George Russell’s new Mercedes contract for 2026
Photo by Jayce Illman/Getty Images
Reports emerged in August that Mercedes and Russell were advancing towards agreeing to a multi-year contract worth £30m a season for the Briton to remain in Brackley beyond this season. Yet the Silver Arrows still seem reluctant to commit long-term to their team leader.
READ MORE: Everything you need to know about F1’s 2026 engine and aero regulations
TEAMDRIVER 1DRIVER 2AlpinePierre GaslyN/AAston MartinFernando AlonsoLance StrollAudiGabriel BortoletoNico HulkenbergCadillacValtteri BottasSergio PerezFerrariCharles LeclercLewis HamiltonHaasEsteban OconOliver BearmanMcLarenLando NorrisOscar PiastriMercedesN/AN/ARacing BullsN/AN/ARed Bull RacingMax VerstappenN/AWilliamsAlex AlbonCarlos Sainz2026 confirmed F1 drivers
Russell replaced Lewis Hamilton as Mercedes’ leader after his British compatriot’s move to Ferrari. The King’s Lynn native boasts 212 of Mercedes’ 290 points to put the Silver Arrows second in the F1 constructors’ standings ahead of Ferrari by four points and Red Bull by 18.
Also, Russell secured Mercedes’ only Grand Prix win of 2025 in Canada from their only pole position to date this term. Russell’s P2 in Baku that impressed Button so much also marked his eighth podium of the year, while rookie teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli has taken one.
Yet, despite performing at a level that Button believes not even Verstappen, Piastri or Norris can match, Russell remains without a contract with Mercedes for the 2026 F1 season. But it is extremely unlikely that Russell will not agree to sign at least a one-year contract for 2026.
Mercedes and Russell are both without suitable alternatives for next year, making a parting of the ways implausible. But the Silver Arrows are looking ahead to 2027, when Verstappen could leave Red Bull if they flop with F1’s 2026 regulations, which leaves Russell in the lurch.