Mercedes man, George Russell, won his first F1 Grand Prix in Brazil this year, securing the only win the Silver Arrows achieved in 2022. In light of this, looking back in time, the Brackley-based team’s main man, Toto Wolff, fondly remembers the time he saw a 16-year-old Russell walk into the F1 factory. He knew right then that the young lad had potential.

In a recent interview, Toto Wolff shares insights on the first time he met a young Briton. Wolff painted the picture and described how the entire meeting progressed. Russell had walked into the Mercedes factory, right after his consecutive title wins in GP3 series and Formula 2.

Toto shared, “I thought about it when the end of his degree [in Brazil], when he walked into [our factory] as a 16-year-old boy, with his suit and tie and his PowerPoint presentation.” [Translated from Google]

“He is the first of our new youth program to have won a race [with Mercedes],” Toto Wolff said. “Obviously, Lewis [Hamilton] has been around forever, and he’s the most successful out of the academy, but six years later, he’s a grand prize winner, [and it’s] deserved.”

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Having had the year that Mercedes did, Russell looks back and credits Lewis Hamilton for showing him the ropes to deal with a season that tough.

George Russell is grateful for being Lewis Hamilton’s teammate

The talented George Russell thinks extremely highly of his teammate, and seven-time world champion, Lewis Hamilton. He states that the year 2022 was quite a struggle for the Silver Arrows, however, the Briton learned a lot from his fellow Mercedes man.

Geroge Russell shared his thoughts on the season of 2022 on The High Performance podcast. In a recent episode, Russel said, “It’s not easy being teammates with somebody as fast and great as he is. But it has been a great year in many regards. What we all do – every single person in this paddock – we are so fortunate to travel the world, us driving the fastest cars in the world around the best tracks in the world.”

“I’m knackered now but, still, there’s a lot to look back on and be happy about,” he said, in conclusion.

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George Russell is definitely the rising star of Mercedes. Will 2023 be his year of more wins, though?