Wolff praises Russell: 'There he was with his tie and Powerpoint'

George Russell has recently become a Grand Prix winner. The Englishman went a while before reaching that illustrious point in his career. But it was all worth it: as the first driver from Mercedes' academy, he managed to win a race in F1.

On the Formula 1 site Toto Wolff looked back on the years Russell has behind him. Russell joined the German's relaunched junior programme as a teenager in 2017. He then won both the GP3 (now F3) and F2 titles as a rookie, before making his F1 debut in 2019 at Mercedes-backed Williams. This year was his first at Mercedes, alongside Lewis Hamilton.

Hard goals

"I thought about it at the end of the race [in Brazil] when he walked in [to our factory] as a 16-year-old, with his suit and his tie and his PowerPoint presentation", Wolff recalled. He praised Russell as the most successful driver the the academy has produced so far. "We have always set hard targets. You’ve got to win GP3, you’ve got to win F2, and he did that in his rookie seasons and then, I guess, at Williams, it was the best school he could have had."

While his contemporaries Alex Albon and Lando Norris were already allowed to drive competitive cars, Russell had to work with the not-so-fast Williams for three years. Especially during qualifying, he regularly managed to surprise with this car. But in his last season at Williams, it became clear that Russell was ready for the next step. “[It was] maybe a year too long [before moving to Mercedes], but in any case, today the most relevant is that he is a Grand Prix winner, and a deserving Grand Prix winner."

Furthermore, Russell finished above Lewis Hamilton in the championship, who did not manage to win a race this season.