George Russell’s performance during the Sakhir Grand Prix weekend shows he has “all the ingredients” of a future star, says Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.
Russell stood in for Lewis Hamilton following the seven-time world champion’s positive COVID-19 test, and impressed in his first appearance for the team.
The Briton set the fastest time in the opening two practice sessions, before missing out on pole position by just 0.026s to Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas.
Having claimed the lead into Turn 1, Russell built a lead over Bottas, which he wouldn’t relinquish, until Mercedes fitted him with the wrong tyres during the second safety car period and he suffered a puncture whilst homing in on race leader and eventual winner Sergio Perez.
Russell came home in ninth to claim his maiden career points, as well as claim a bonus point for fastest lap.
Wolff was full of praise for Russell when speaking post-race, believing he more than “overdelivered” the team’s expectations.
“It’s not going to be his last attempt to win a race; it’s just the beginning of a fairytale that didn’t work out today and I would say that a new star is born,” Wolff told Sky Sports F1.
“We didn’t want to set expectations high and he overdelivered, overdelivered, overdelivered.
“He overdelivered on Friday. He overdelivered yesterday in qualifying just a few hundredths away from Valtteri.
“And he overdelivered today. His racing was unbelievable. He got off the starting line with the best reaction time in a car that is too small, with paddles that didn’t fit his hands, and he got into lead and drove a brilliant race and could have won twice.
“So, this is not a sad day, this is a day where we learn as a team.
“When we are in a tough fight about the championship I wouldn’t want the radio to fail.
“And we learn that George Russell is somebody to count on in the future. He has all the potential and all the ingredients that a future star needs.
“And in that respect I’m sad for the result that he could have had in his first race for Mercedes but on the other side I’m happy about his performance.”
Russell’s display has raised questions whether he should replace Bottas at Mercedes as early as 2021, despite both having contracts in place.
Mercedes re-signed Bottas earlier in the year, while Russell has already been confirmed as a Williams driver for at least one more season.
Asked if it was possible to switch Bottas and Russell for 2021, Wolff admitted it was not a “realistic situation”.
“He’s a Williams driver, and is signed up to Williams,” Wolff said, as quoted by The Race. “And our driver line-up is Valtteri and Lewis.
“So I don’t see this as a realistic situation at that moment of time [2021].
“But I can understand that it would be an interesting situation, both in the team and maybe a bit of a wild ride for all of us.
“Maybe we’ll have that in the future.”
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