{"id":495456,"date":"2025-09-15T02:53:34","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T06:53:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/7sport.net\/en\/?post_type=news&#038;p=495456"},"modified":"2025-09-15T02:53:34","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T06:53:34","slug":"mercedes-keep-the-door-open-for-verstappen-with-special-clause-in-russells-contract","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/7sport.net\/en\/news\/mercedes-keep-the-door-open-for-verstappen-with-special-clause-in-russells-contract\/","title":{"rendered":"Mercedes keep the door open for Verstappen with special clause in Russell\u2019s contract"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Mercedes are preparing a new contract for George Russell that could clear the way for Max Verstappen to join the team in 2027.<\/p>\n<p>According to reports, Russell is expected to sign a new one-year deal with the German team, though even a longer contract would include a 2027 exit clause. Both Russell and rookie teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli are out of contract at the end of this season, but team principal Toto Wolff has publicly assured fans that the current driver lineup will remain the same through 2026.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">George Russell \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7is set to sign his new contract with Mercedes<\/p>\n<p>\u27a1\ufe0f His contract improves:<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Salary around $20 million<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Multi-year contract (2026-2027) + 2028 option<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Decision on the 2027 car (in 2026 he has had a say but to a lesser extent).<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; And\u2026 Verstappen clause <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/F1?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#F1<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/5quSdgO7q5\" target=\"_blank\">pic.twitter.com\/5quSdgO7q5<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Connor Porter F1 (@ConnorPorterX) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ConnorPorterX\/status\/1966423988143358423?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">September 12, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Behind the scenes, however, Mercedes are keeping one eye\u00a0 on Verstappen\u2019s future. The team explored the possibility of signing the four-time world champion earlier this year, amid whispers that he could be considering life beyond Red Bull. While Verstappen is tied down to a long-term deal, The Race has reported that he holds an exit clause allowing him to leave if he sits outside the top two in the championship standings by the 2026 summer break.<\/p>\n<p>If Red Bull stumble under the upcoming regulation changes, Verstappen could suddenly hit the market \u2014 and Mercedes want to be ready. That\u2019s why Russell\u2019s new contract is expected to give the team flexibility, either through a short-term deal or a break clause that would allow Wolff to make room for Verstappen should the opportunity arise.<\/p>\n<p>For now, Russell is not believed to be angry about the arrangement, though sources suggest he has been left frustrated by how negotiations and media speculation have played out this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mercedes are preparing a new contract for George Russell that could clear the way for Max Verstappen to join the team in 2027. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":137,"featured_media":495457,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false},"tags":[17680,17140,17288,26689],"news_category":[16921,16715],"gn_keywords":[18340,17971,26686,1081],"acf":{"news_source":"","link_picture":"","announce":"Toto Wolff wants to make sure Mercedes will be the first option for Max Verstappen if the 4-time World Champion decides to leave Red Bull","video":[]},"rank_math_focus_keyword":"","rank_math_description":"","rank_math_title":"","rank_math_robots":"","rank_math_canonical_url":"","rank_math_facebook_title":"","rank_math_facebook_description":"","rank_math_facebook_image":"","rank_math_twitter_title":"","rank_math_twitter_description":"","rank_math_twitter_image":"","rank_math_snippet_shortcode":"","rank_math_primary_category":"","rankmath_seo":{"focus_keyword":"","description":"","title":"","canonical_url":"","robots":"","facebook":{"title":"","description":"","image":""},"twitter":{"title":"","description":"","image":""}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/7sport.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/495456"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/7sport.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/7sport.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/7sport.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/137"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/7sport.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=495456"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/7sport.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/495456\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":495458,"href":"https:\/\/7sport.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/495456\/revisions\/495458"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/7sport.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/495457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/7sport.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=495456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/7sport.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=495456"},{"taxonomy":"news_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/7sport.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_category?post=495456"},{"taxonomy":"gn_keywords","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/7sport.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/gn_keywords?post=495456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}