George Russell Gets Candid on ‘Intriguing’ Relationship With Mercedes F1 Boss Toto Wolff

George Russell and his Mercedes career are off to a flying start. After 9 races, the Briton is yet to finish below the top 5. Beating Lewis Hamilton in the same car is something few have achieved. However, Russell seems to have the edge over the seven-time world champion.

The foundation, however, was laid all the way back in 2017 when the 24-year-old joined the Mercedes junior driver team. As a result, he is entirely familiar with the team and shares a great bond with them, including the Silver Arrows boss Toto Wolff.

Speaking to the F1 Nation Podcast, he revealed how his relationship with Wolff has changed over the years. “It hasn’t changed a huge amount. It is really intriguing for me to see how Toto is involved in the technical front because firstly I never quite knew how his technical knowledge was. But he is fully involved in all of these technical meetings.”

READ MORE: Are George Russell’s Parents Rich?

“He’s really trying to push the whole team, and he is a racer at heart. And I think having a leader who is not only as inspiring as he is, motivated and you know everybody is clear on what a great leader Toto is, but he also understands the technical side of the things and can look at things a bit more rationally maybe from afar, but actually asking the right questions, it goes a long way,” he said.

The Briton seems to love life at Mercedes so far. And as F1 moves to his home turf this week, he will look to carry this strong momentum.

George Russell opens up on Toto Wolff’s character

Fans arguably see Toto Wolff as a stern personality with a strong mentality to win. Russell touched upon how the Austrian reacts to the performances of his drivers. The Briton also revealed the way Toto joked after he put his Williams in P2 during the 2021 Belgian GP qualifying.

Russell added, “He is not the one to praise 24/7. He’s not always gonna be bigging you up and always make a couple of jokes. Like I remember I qualified second at Spa for Williams; he had actually told me that I got the drive three days before and we had a few chats and when he called at Saturday night and said that was alright, but I thought you were gonna be on pole.”

“Of course it was a windup, but that was it, you know and that’s his sense of humor. For him to say something like that, I know what he thinks deep down and I know that he was seriously happy with the performance.”

WATCH THIS STORY: Road cars inspired from F1 technology

The fascinating relationship between the two has made Russell feel comfortable with the team, without a doubt. This also shows in his consistent performances this year. The Briton will certainly hope to maintain this level as the season progresses.