Toto Wolff still does not believe that the title fight for George Russell is over. The Mercedes driver himself came to that conclusion after the Spanish GP, but according to the team principal, Russell has not achieved so much success in his junior career for nothing. “It is clearly in him, but we just have to unlock it,” Wolff concludes.
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George Russell took the next blow in the title fight at the Madrid ring. His teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli once again took the victory and now leads the Brit by 81 World Championship points. Meanwhile, Russell finished fifth. According to Toto Wolff, however, all the ingredients were there for a better result from the Mercedes driver.
“You could see what pace he had towards the end when he overtook Leclerc,” Toto Wolff analyzed his driver’s race to the media. “You know George was the fastest on the circuit, but after the tire changes that pace was gone and I just don’t know where it went. We have to analyze this, because it is clearly in him, it is in the car and we just have to unlock it.”
‘George has won everything you can win’
According to Wolff, Russell’s earlier success in the junior categories shows that the Brit is simply a ‘top driver’. “As far as George is concerned: you can have good races, bad races, good years and bad years, but we are talking about the driver who has won everything you could have won. Every kart championship, Formula 3 in his debut year, Formula 2 in his debut year – he then moved to Williams. I mean, we are talking about a top driver.”
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The Mercedes team principal therefore also believes that Russell should not be written off in the title fight yet, unlike the driver himself who threw in the towel after the race on Sunday. “We have to find out what is needed to unleash that potential in him, and of course the psychological side also plays a role,” Wolff continues. “If you experience a streak like he has this year, you take quite a few hits, but the great ones recover, and I think George has everything it takes to fight for championships.”
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