Wolff on Russell: "He doesn't fit in the cockpit!"

Toto Wolff has heaped more praise on George Russell after his incredible performance in qualifying for the Sakhir Grand Prix, where he qualified in second place on his debut race for Mercedes.

Replacing Lewis Hamilton after the seven-time champion's positive COVID-19 test, Russell was just 0.026 seconds away from the pole position time set by Valtteri Bottas on the shortened Bahrain circuit.

Wolff told Sky in Germany: "You mustn't forget: he gets into the car, doesn't fit in the cockpit and this loses him time. The future belongs to him."

Despite his confidence in his drivers, Wolff remains wary of Max Verstappen in the Red Bull behind: "The [Red Bulls] were very strong on the long runs," he explains and adds: "I'm not exactly sure whether it's an advantage to start on the soft or on the medium. Maybe third place isn't bad at all down the straight with the soft."