When Mercedes called George Russell to drive for them for the 2022 F1 season and beyond, in September 2021, it wasn’t surprising. As the Briton was on the wing to drive for the German team after giving up a solid motorsport deal half a decade before.
Russell was on the radar of big teams such as BMW and Mercedes ever since he was 18 years old. At that young age, the Briton had a lucrative deal on the table, but he had something else in his mind.
After the infamous story of him pursuing Mercedes boss Toto Wolff through Powerpoint plan and a series of emails being exchanged, the current 25-year-old decided to take the ultimate gamble, which in the end, paid off last season.
Despite all the hype, it took Mercedes six long years to promote Russell to Mercedes for $8,000,000. This was after the young driver had a decent stint with Williams in F1 and one surprising cameo replacing Lewis Hamilton.
Russell’s Gamble and how it paid off
In 2016, Russell received an interesting offer on his table from BMW. However, it was not for an F1 seat, but for DTM. Back then, DTM was considered one of the elite motorsport categories and had its position right below F1.
Along with this, they also offered the young British driver with an F3 opportunity. But the 25-year-old was not interested in any of it as he would rather wait for his F1 chances with the Silver Arrows, the best team according to him.
As per a report published by The Athletic, Gwen Lagrue, a driver manager was the man behind his Mercedes move. Lagrue met Russell when he was 12 years old and said, “I’m moving to Mercedes. And I want you to be my first signing.”
And the current Mercedes star responded positively to taking the gamble. On this, he revealed as per PlanetF1, “I was a 17-year-old and you had to take that risk. I guess if it didn’t work out I’d potentially be regretting it, but it worked out.”
BMW was never a choice for Russell over Mercedes
As BMW approached Russell with their offer and he was about to consider it, Mercedes gave him an ultimatum. The Silver Arrows said it would either be them or Mercedes.
Being the fierce rival of Mercedes, the Bavarian company grew immense names for them in the world of motorsport over the years. Naturally, an offer with a handsome salary would mean a lot for George Russell back then.
As the 25-year-old’s gamble played out, he showed that the scout was right about him. After coming to Mercedes and beating Lewis Hamilton in the first season itself, he surely made Gwen Lagrue and Toto Wolff proud of their findings.
