F1 News
Russell 'had a year too long' at Williams, says Wolff
Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff believes George Russell potentially had "a year too long" at Williams.
Russell claimed his first victory in Formula 1 with Mercedes at the Brazilian Grand Prix, ending a 23-race win drought for the team.
Wolff, who managed Russell during his years in the Mercedes Junior Programme, recalls the Briton's journey through the ranks competing in F1 feeder series GP3 and F2.
"I thought about it at the end of the race, when he walked in as a 16-year-old with his suit, his tie, his PowerPoint presentation," said Wolff to media, including TheFOXposts.Com.
"He's the first of our new Junior Programme that has won the race.
"Obviously, Lewis [Hamilton] has been the most successful of the ones that has graduated [with Mercedes Benz backing].
"But six years later he [Russell] is the Grand Prix race winner."
Viewed by others:
Wolff: We always had tough targets for Russell
Wolff claims that Russell has always had tough targets at each level of competition.
"We've always had hard targets, [I told George] you've got to win GP3, F2, and he did that in his rookie seasons," he explains.
In making his debut with the team at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix - replacing Lewis Hamilton who had to sit out due to a positive COVID test - Russell was on course for his first F1 win, but a pit stop error and a puncture prevented it.
Talk of him joining the team to replace Valtteri Bottas was rife, but Wolff elected to keep him in Williams for another season - something he thinks might have been for too long.
"I guess with at Williams he was the best school kid we could have had, maybe a year too long.
"But in any case, today the most relevant [thing] is that he's a Grand Prix winner, and the deserving Grand Prix winner.
Neil Lennon’s Hilarious Quip After Celtic Fans Burned The Sky TV Wires
Premier League clubs to vote on scrapping VAR from next season
Jurgen Klopp’s final Liverpool FC game vs. Wolves WILL be shown live in UK
Today's Knicks vs Pacers Prop Picks and Best Bets — NBA Playoff Prop Bets
-
F1 News3h agoThe winter Norris focus that helped end his lengthy F1 win wait
-
F1 News10h agoExclusive: What goes on inside Formula 1's race control room
-
F1 News17h agoLeclerc: Rare F1 race engineer swap was ‘team decision’
-
F1 News1d agoMagnussen feels he's been penalised for driving "outside of some white lines"
-
F1 News1d agoMercedes will need "several races" to make bigger steps with 2024 F1 car
-
F1 News1d agoHamilton has never known F1 tyres to have such a "minuscule" working range
-
F1 News1d agoA vote of confidence or biding his time? What Albon's new Williams F1 deal means
-
F1 News1d agoSchumacher F1 watches top $4 million after cyber-attack delays auction