BRACKLEY, England (AP) — George Russell and Kimi Antonelli will stay with Mercedes in Formula 1 next year after the team finally concluded a drawn-out contract renewal process.

In a statement Wednesday, Mercedes didn’t give any details of the contracts other than that five-time F1 race winner Russell and his rookie teammate Antonelli will stay with the team in 2026.

Russell won his second race of the year at the Singapore Grand Prix this month. Both he and Antonelli came through Mercedes’ development program in junior series.

In June, Russell suggested one reason for a delay in contract talks might be that Mercedes was speaking to Max Verstappen, who eventually confirmed he was staying with Red Bull.

“Confirming our driver line-up was always just a matter of when, not if. We wanted

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