“George Russell had the best start to the season in his career”: Mercedes honcho Toto Wolff praises star driver after impressive start to the season

Mercedes supremo Toto Wolff has praised his star driver George Russell ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix weekend. Wolff asserted that the Briton had the best start to an F1 season ever, and the results correlate with the Austrian's sentiments.

At the 2025 F1 season opener, Russell was the only driver at the front of the field appearing to take the fight to the McLarens and the Red Bull of Max Verstappen. In a rain-affected race, the 27-year-old became opportunistic when Oscar Piastri slid off the road and did not put any foot wrong in treacherous conditions, helping him earn a podium in Australia.

His impressive performance continued in China as he recorded a fourth-place finish in the Sprint and emerged as a threat for Lando Norris in the Grand Prix, and eventually added another trophy to his cabinet as the checkered flag fell. The Mercedes driver has accumulated 35 points over the two race weekends, resulting in his best-ever start to an F1 season.

Reflecting on how George Russell has been a consistent top-scorer, Toto Wolff said (via AutoRacer):

"George has had the best start to the season of his career. He is giving it his all with his maturity, consistency and speed. He is performing exactly as we would expect from a senior driver in the Mercedes team. I am sure he will try to continue with this approach this weekend."

Russell last won at the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix, where he led home a 1-2 finish for the German giant.

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Can George Russell break McLaren's streak of race wins?

Lando Norris (L), Oscar Piastri (2nd from L), and George Russell (R) at the F1 Chinese Grand Prix podium - Source: Getty

While McLaren seems to be the pace leader, as George Russell has said, there is one weakness that persisted for McLaren throughout the 2024 season: cooler temperatures beyond the McLarens' apparent working window. On the contrary, the ability to work in cooler temperatures was Mercedes' USP last year, and George Russell is aware of the advantage that the German giant might possess in the following few races. He said (via Motorsport Week):

"I think (the McLarens) are going to be at an advantage in the majority of tracks. They may struggle when it’s cold. To be honest, they seem clearly better than everybody else at cooling their tyres.

We saw this last year at Singapore – very hot, street circuit, challenging, they were well ahead of everybody else. Zandvoort as well, another track of overheating, but then, in Vegas, they were nowhere."

The next F1 race will be held at the Suzuka Circuit in Japan on April 6.