George Russell has confirmed that Mercedes is in talks with Max Verstappen. With his contract expiring after the 2025 season, Russell explained that he would continue to focus on performance and had no reason to worry about his contract extension. However, Mercedes has yet to put pen to paper.Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff shared his interest in signing Verstappen last year after Lewis Hamilton had announced his 2025 Ferrari move. Indeed, Verstappen has showcased exceptional racing abilities on several race weekends, even when Red Bull’s title challenger suffered from balance problems.But after the four-time world champion reaffirmed his loyalty to Red Bull, Wolff signed Andrea Kimi Antonelli. However, Russell’s statements suggest that Mercedes is still interested in having Verstappen, which makes sense considering that F1 enters a new era of regulations next year with entirely new cars. As a result, drivers could be expected to carry more weight on their shoulders until teams refine and improve their cars.Russell revealed his conversation with Wolff and acknowledged he was meeting all performance expectations, especially considering his four podium finishes this season and his race win in Canada. Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Russell was asked about discussions on his contract extension ahead of the race weekend in Austria. He said:”Yeah, a little bit. No major updates yet.”It’s not something that I’m pressing massively because, as I’ve always said, the performance is the priority, and I feel with the performance I’m showing at the moment – still in line with the performance I’ve shown over all these years – I’ve got zero reasons to be worried.”But obviously, it does help if there was pen on paper. But let’s see.”While admitting that he has no reason to worry, Russell opened up about Mercedes’ ongoing talks with Verstappen. He added:”From my side, I don’t think I have anything really to worry about. I think, as a team, it depends where you put your aspirations.”We’re second best at the moment, maybe third best. We might be overperforming slightly to be second best.”As Mercedes, they want to be back on top, and if you’re going to be back on top you need to make sure you’ve got the best drivers, the best engineers, the best pit crew, and that’s what Mercedes are chasing.”So, it’s only normal that conversations with the likes of Verstappen are ongoing. But from my side, if I’m performing as I’m doing, what have I got to be concerned about? There are two seats in every Formula 1 team.”