George Russell Hopeful He’s Given Toto Wolff ‘Some Problems to Sort out’ at Mercedes

Things change dramatically and intensely in Formula 1, and there is no one who knows that better than George Russell now. It has been a dream week for the young Briton, but it eventually led to heartbreak considering the position he was in.

From Russell’s perspective, the Sakhir GP consisted of bittersweet moments. He would take some pride in knowing that he has just gotten the first championship points of his F1 career.

At the same time, the disappointment of losing out on a race win would obviously have been hard to digest. Regardless, Russell hopes he has given Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff something to think about for the future.

George Russell is happy and proud with his Sakhir GP performance

Speaking after the race, Russell stated, “If you’d told me at the start of this weekend I would have scored some points, I’d have said right, that’s going to be a pretty fantastic weekend!

“But if you’d told me I’d be leading the race, and then ended up… argh… I don’t know.

“It really hurt, honestly, it really bloody hurt when I got out of the car.”

It was certainly a drive to admire from Russell, who only came in as a stand-in for Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes a few days back. However, he showed no signs of flustering, as he administered constant overtakes on his rivals in the race’s duration.

The 22-year-old continued, “I spoke to my parents straightaway. I know they were feeling it. They said you’ve got so much to be proud of. Same with Toto [Wolff] and James [Vowles] and Bono. We hugged it out.

“So hopefully I’ve given Toto some problems to sort out for the future. I’m happy. I’m proud,” concluded Russell.

Mercedes have a drivers’ conundrum to solve after Russell’s display

Having spent a couple of years with Williams now, Sunday showed that Russell is absolutely ready to take the next step in his career. This, however, will prove to be a dilemma for Mercedes, who are yet to seal a contract for defending champion, Lewis Hamilton.

Bottas is already confirmed for the 2021 season, at the very least. However, Mercedes could also look to replace the Finn with their academy member at the start of 2022.

Realistically speaking, Russell would stick to driving for Williams for a minimum of another year, but Toto Wolff would seriously contemplate the option of bringing the youngster into their team’s fold, sooner than later.