“George Russell came with a power-point presentation ready”- Toto Wolff on how $16 million net worth driver arrived at Mercedes factory in Brackley

George Russell joined Mercedes in 2022 to partner with Lewis Hamilton but has been part of their junior driver programme for a long time. 

Russell made his F1 debut in 2019 for Williams after winning the F2 Title in 2018. The Brit drove a comprehensively slow Williams car for the first three seasons of his career, but still managed to shine. He topped his Williams stint with a P2 finish in Belgium last season.

His arrival to Mercedes was always seen as a matter of time. In 2022, Valtteri Bottas moved to Alfa Romeo which opened up a space at the Silver Arrows. Russell joined them, and teamed up with Hamilton.

However, many years before his official move to Mercedes, he approached Toto Wolff to convince him to take him into their young drivers’ programme.

In an interview, the Mercedes team principal revealed how the now 24-year old arrived at their headquarters as a kid.

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George Russell arrived wearing suit and tie, ready to show his presentation

The fact that Russell loves power point presentations is no secret. It has become a joke of sorts today, after fans saw the man from King’s Lynn use presentations to make his point in several promotional videos.

However, Wolff’s story about Russell shows how he actually used one for something that was career defining. The story started with how Russell’s dad told him that he had to find his own sponsors to continue his racing career. It was then that he approached Wolff.

“Russell came to our headquarters in Brackley in a suit and a tie with a PowerPoint presentation on why he was someone that we should consider for our junior programme,” the Mercedes boss said.

It’s safe to say that Russell’s presentation was as effective as his driving on track is. Today, he is one of the brightest young stars in F1, and he has a lot of years left in the tank.

Most fans believe that Mercedes consider Russell as a replacement for Hamilton, and that the 24-year old is on a path towards establishing himself as an all time great.

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