“Toto Lets Lewis Hamilton Get Away”: George Russell Points at Wolff’s Hypocrisy as Scar on the Wrist Spills the Beans

With multiple teams’ hierarchy coming to light in Japan, Mercedes made it evident as well. Disregarding George Russell’s suggestions and requests, the Brackley outfit ordered a swap, putting Lewis Hamilton in front. However, as it turns out, the racetrack isn’t the only place Hamilton is getting the preference. The Brit’s been with Mercedes for a decade now and has been the major contributor to all of Mercedes‘s success in the sport. It goes without saying Hamilton has a certain pull with all his experience and accolades. This also translates to life beyond track. Russell revealed this aspect in the Mercedes camp on the latest F1: Beyond the Grid podcast.

The Brit revealed how, even in the summer break, he is micro-managed and Hamilton gets away with things while also solving the mystery of the scar on his wrist.

When asked about the scar on his wrist, Russell said, “I spoke with Toto (Wolff) before the break. I said, ‘I want to try this and try that’ and Toto’s one who does a lot of activity. But he lets Lewis get away with it but when it comes to me he’s like, ‘You have to be careful of this. If you jump on that foil board, you have a really good chance of hurting yourself and when you go skiing you have a really good chance of hurting yourself’ and he’s totally right.”

However, the young Brit explained he was aware of his boundaries, but his boss’s words came true when he went foilboard surfing in Spain during the summer break. That is where Russell got the scar from as he fell on his first day and the foil “sliced my wrist open”.

Read More: Amid Ongoing War for Power, Lewis Hamilton Discloses His Tactic to Combat George Russell

Russell is still living the life of a new driver in a new team despite all his years of experience. However, such is the case when you join a big team like Mercedes. A team, the young Brit is still figuring out which he clearly hasn’t yet with the 2023 Japanese GP as proof.

George Russell gets a reality check of Toto Wolff’s elite mentality while battling Lewis Hamilton

Like he did in most of the 2022 season, Russell was proving he’s got his pace back in Japan starting from the qualifying session. The same pace is becoming a problem for Mercedes as we saw in Japan. Because of this aspect, the young Brit found himself in an on-track tussle with his veteran teammate.

During this battle, Russell got on the radio and made a fiery statement for the world to hear. This, according to Peter Windsor, was very un-Mercedes-like. In fact, the F1 journalist pointed out how Wolff has instilled an elite mentality in the team and has a very blue-chip approach. This approach never lets the outside world get a glimpse into their problems behind the scenes. Russell in Japan got a glimpse of the mentality in Japan.

He stated in reference to George’s radio, “At this point, George gets on the radio, & says, ‘are we racing other teams or are we racing ourselves? which is kind of an aggressive thing for a Mercedes driver to say in public on air on the radio. Bearing in mind this is the most conservative, of bluechip Formula 1 teams.

Alluding to the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP drama, he added, “They wanted to get on with the 2022 season & didn’t wanna make too much of a drama. So no problem, that’s how, that’s what Mercedes are: very conservative Formula 1 team.”

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We are not sure what the post-race briefing would’ve looked like, but one can assume the young Brit must’ve gotten talking for his comments. Is this the current way to manage a team?