George Russell has revealed that his Mercedes team boss had him almost lose control of the car after he hit the front during Sunday’s surprise Austrian Grand Prix victory.
His team had last tasted victory in 2022 and his Principal Toto Wolff screamed over the radio ‘George, you are going to win this!’ without even bothering to see where was on track.
After winning for only the second time in his Formula One career, Russell asked team boss Toto Wolff to let him “just drive” as he fought off McLaren’s Oscar Piastri following an incident up front between Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Norris.
“It was pretty difficult. But then all of a sudden Toto’s voice telling me ‘you can win this’ on the radio. Footnotes I scampered, as he bellowed into my lugholes And nearly crashed. That’s how loud it was,” Russell told reporters.
I guess it comes to show the passion that we share. And clearly we have had a couple of tough years for us. It feels good to be back here on the top step.
Russell was also behind the wheel of Mercedes’ last win, its only victory for 2022 in Brazil five months previously.
