Toto Wolff has revealed that a decision will be made on who will drive for the Silver Arrows during the summer break.
George Russell is going into his home Grand Prix without a contract for next season, as Mercedes seems to be stalling on offering the Briton a new contract.
When pressed on whether a decision would be made during the summer break, the Mercedes boss joked:
"Maybe in the middle!"
George Russell is still waiting for a new contract from Mercedes
ReutersSpeaking after the race in Austria, Wolff revealed Mercedes were comfortable with the situation they were in, but hinted that an announcement would be coming soon.
He said: "You need to be respectable towards the stakeholders in all of that process - the organisation, the drivers, everybody.
"You need to understand the way forward. I don't want to be sadistic in letting a driver wait or not taking any decisions when it should be taken.
"I feel we are in a good space, we're [in] June, there are lots of discussions around. I've been open with it, transparent. And at a certain stage, in the next couple of months, until the summer break, everything is going to be done."
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Wolff revealed during the Austrian Grand Prix that Mercedes were having "conversations behind closed doors" with reigning world champion Max Verstappen.
Telling the media during the Austrian Grand Prix: "I think when you look at the situation we have with Kimi and George, we have a perfect line-up that we very much enjoy and that we believe is the future.
"But, at the same time, there is a four-time world champion that needs to decide what he is going to do in the future and that is just, as a team principal, you need to see where that is going."
Toto Wolff sees signing Max Verstappen as unlikely
GettyThe revelation comes as there is reportedly a clause in Verstappen’s contract allowing him to leave his Red Bull contract early.
However, it only applies should he be outside the top four in the drivers' championship at the summer break.
The Mercedes boss was realistic about his expectations of acquiring the Dutchman as he stated: "I think I give it a very little probability that it's going to happen."
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Christian Horner, the Red Bull boss, dismissed Wolff’s claims of trying to steal the four-time champion away from them.
He said: "It is a lot of noise. I think Max gets quite annoyed by it.
"We are very clear with the contract that we have with Max until 2028.
"So, anything is entirely speculative that is being said, but we tend not to pay too much attention to it."
Christian Horner seems confident he will keep his star driver
ReutersFormer Formula 1 driver Karun Chandhok has also weighed in on the Dutchman's future.
He said: "We don't know what the thresholds are in terms of him being able to extricate himself from the Red Bull contract, but if you were Max Verstappen, you would look next year at the performance of the top teams and then pick and choose where you want to go in the future."
Both Verstappen and Russell will be hoping for a return to form at the British Grand Prix this weekend after a disappointing Austrian Grand Prix saw Verstappen not make it past turn three on the opening lap, and Russell finishing over a minute behind his countryman and race winner Lando Norris.
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