George Russell achieved victory in the Austrian Formula 1 Grand Prix on Sunday – the first he has achieved since the São Paulo Grand Prix in 2022, over a year and a half ago. However, the outcome could have been much more bitter for the Mercedes driver.
When he was in third place, the British driver benefited from the collision between Max Verstappen (Red Bull) and Lando Norris (McLaren/Mercedes) on lap 64 to take the lead. At that time, Mercedes executive director and team principal Toto Wolff used the team radio to encourage the driver in the heat of the moment: «You can win this», he said.
The problem is that the message came at an inconvenient time and place, in a corner, with Russell only responding, «Let him drive». After the race, he said, as quoted by Motorsport.com: ‘Suddenly I had Toto shouting in my ear, «You can win this». I almost had an accident when he shouted in my ears, it was so loud, but I think it just shows the passion we all share’.
Wolff acknowledged the mistake to Sky Deutschland: ‘It was one of the stupidest things I’ve ever done, I have to say. I didn’t see where he was at all. I only saw that they collided with each other. It was the first time it happened to me in 12 years. He’s fully on the brakes at 320km/h and I tell him they both collided. I have to think about this first’.
