Toto Wolff wants George Russell to avoid making mistakes to find success with Mercedes

Toto Wolff wants George Russell to not to be error-prone if he wishes to be successful with Mercedes like Lewis Hamilton over the years.

George Russell is deemed to be Mercedes’ future, but even with the best car, there is no guarantee that one will manage to fetch the championship.

According to Toto Wolff, one has to make the least mistakes to grab the highest title of the season, and he expects Russell to learn not making them before he joins the main team.

Speaking to Motorsport.com, Wolff said: “Winning Formula 1 championships is about making the least amount of mistakes. And that only comes with routine and experience. Mercedes expects this kind of sustainable performance levels. And that’s why you need to give young drivers time.

“Because as exuberant as they may be perceived after the performance that we’ve seen [at the Sakhir GP] from George, at the same time, young drivers will be criticised, and criticised quickly, when they make mistakes in such a high-pressure environment like a top team.

“That’s why making experiences like in Imola, and the learnings from that, are very important to form a driver that can perform at a sustainable high level.”

Toto Wolff have full faith in George Russell

2020 has definitely shown that Wolff lays a huge amount of faith in Russell, and according to Mercedes’ team principal, there are reasons to do so.

“We believed in George because there are not many drivers out there that have won junior championships as rookies, especially not the very competitive GP3 and F2 championships,” said Wolff.

“For us, [using him as a replacement for Hamilton] was a possibility to confirm what we were thinking about George. It was unfortunate that this opportunity came with Lewis having been out.”

“I would have wished it would have happened differently, but it gave us a set of data points to look at. And in a way, it affirmed how we judged him.”

“It was also an advantage for him and Williams. He was going to go back to his team with a lot of learning, with more understanding. And this is why I think for him personally, and for Williams, it was advantageous.”

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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