Wolff sees huge potential in Russell: "Qualities of a future Mercedes driver"

Toto Wolff has given George Russell perhaps the biggest praise he could receive. The Mercedes boss is certain his junior driver has the qualities of a future drive for the Silver Arrows after a "flawless" record in Formula 1.

Russell made his F1 debut for Williams last season and out-qualified his teammate in every single qualifying session. The British driver failed to pick up a single point in his first season, but that was due to the uncompetitive nature of the Williams car.

After completing the Abu Dhabi test for the world champions, boss Wolff is confident he'll be able to call upon Russell's talents in the future.

"The test is not benchmarking him because we are absolutely certain that he has the qualities of a potential future Mercedes driver. He has the raw speed, he has the talent, he has the intelligence. There is a reason why he’s won F3 and F2 as a rookie, it hasn’t been done many times before. And he has a flawless record in Formula 1," Wolff is quoted by RaceFans.net.

Both Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas have a contract which expires at the end of the 2020 F1 season. There is constant talk and rumour of Hamilton moving to Ferrari, but that seems highly unlikely. Bottas is keen to continue but he himself admitted that he needs to keep an open-mind.