Rosberg: Russell not safe, Wolff wants Verstappen

Ever since Lewis Hamilton announced his departure to Ferrari in 2025, the worst-kept secret within the F1 paddock was that Wolff was courting Verstappen, trying to lure him to Mercedes, which was a possibility given the controversy that rocked Red Bull with Christian Horner's sexting scandal in addition to the civil war that erupted within the team in which Jos Verstappen was an active member, not to mention the departure of Adrian Newey.

Despite Mercedes' improved form in 2024, it seemed Verstappen & Co. were not convinced that leaving Red Bull was the right decision even with the current struggles, and Wolff went ahead and signed Andrea Kimi Antonelli as Hamilton's replacement.

However, with Mercedes' driver lineup now confirmed for 2025, both George Russell and Antonelli will be out of contracts for 2026.

Rosberg believes Russell is at risk given how much Wolff has invested in Antonelli and the faith he has in his Italian protégé, which made him promote him from the Formula Regional European Championship in 2023 to Formula 2 directly in 2024 and straight into F1 next year.

"George is not safe at all because Toto still wants Max," the former Mercedes driver told Sky Sports F1.

"He will try again for 2026 because 'give up' does not appear in Toto's vocabulary. If Max does become available - and I do think it's a possibility - then it is a shootout between George and Kimi next year.

"It's a lot of pressure on George, as he has everything to lose. He should be the one ahead at the team internally, because Kimi is 18 and he's completely new and in a full-pressure situation, so it's not an easy situation for George," Rosberg explained.

Wolff on the other hand, rubbished all claims regarding a shootout between Russell and Antonelli; he said: "I very much hope we go a long time with these two [Russell and Antonelli]. It is clear you always pick the best [drivers] but as it stands, that is the lineup.

"We have had an open channel over the last few years [with Verstappen]. Sometimes discussing more, sometimes discussing less, but it never came to putting terms together.

"We have a commitment to our drivers to give it our best effort, so for the moment it is a pause," Wolff concluded.