“Our driver line-up is Valtteri and Lewis” – Toto Wolff confirms Mercedes would be interested in hiring George Russell in the near future, not next season.
Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff has put an end to all speculation that George Russell could be drafted in as a Mercedes driver this season. Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton are expected to line up for the champions for yet another season. But he did add that Russell and Hamilton could be partners in the future.
“He’s a Williams driver, he signed up to Williams and our driver line-up is Valtteri and Lewis.”
“So I don’t see this as a realistic situation at that moment of time. But I can understand that it would be an interesting situation to have been both in the team and maybe a bit of a wild ride for all of us. Maybe that will happen in the future.”
Williams can be proud of Russell – Toto Wolff
George Russell performed brilliantly on his debut for Mercedes at Sakhir but was unfortunate to finish ninth. And Toto Wolff believes Williams can be really proud of what they saw from their driver.
“George has always been a Mercedes driver, and he’s a Williams driver now, and I think they can be proud of what he’s done today.”
“George Russell is somebody to count on in the future. He has all the potential and all the ingredients that a star needs, a future star needs.”
Wolff also spoke about the mishaps at the pit lane, which cost both his drivers a podium finish. He feels they are still learning but mistakes like this can potentially cost a title next time, and not just a race win. The mistakes caused George Russell a race win, but his incredible performance was there for all of us to see.
“This is not a sad day.”
“This is a day where we learn as a team when we are in a tough fight about a championship, I wouldn’t want the radio to fail. In that respect, I’m sad for the result that he could have had in his first race for Mercedes, but on the other side, I’m happy about his performance.”
