Toto Wolff: George Russell spent 'a year too long' at Williams

George Russell recently bagged his first F1 victory at the 2022 F1 Brazilian Grand Prix. The 24-year-old British driver was praised for his impeccable drive on Sunday. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff spoke highly of the youngster.

Last year, Russell was at Williams and struggled quite a lot with the slowest car on the grid. In light of that, Wolff gave an overview of the Brit's journey through the Formulae ranks and how he could've been at Mercedes a year sooner.

Toto Wolff said:

"We've always set hard targets. You've got to win GP3, you've got to win F2, and [Russell] did that in his rookie seasons. And then I guess at Williams, it was the best schooling he could have had, maybe a year too long."

He further said:

"But in any case, today the most relevant [thing] is that he's a grand prix winner and a deserving grand prix winner."

When Russell won his first race in Brazil, Wolff was elated and reminisced about the day the young driver came to him to join Mercedes' junior academy. He warmly told the story of how 16-year-old George Russell wore a suit and tie, and had a PowerPoint presentation for his pitch.

Toto Wolff said:

"I thought about it at the end of the race, when he walked in as a 16-year-old with his suit and his tie and his PowerPoint presentation. He's the first of our new junior programme that has won a race."

George Russell has been fantastic this season, especially considering his position in the driver standings. He has been consistently ahead of his teammate, Lewis Hamilton, who is considered to be one of the best F1 drivers of all time.

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Niki Lauda predicted George Russell's talent, says Toto Wolff

The late Niki Lauda is also considered to be one of the greatest drivers in F1 history. Long after his retirement as a driver, he joined Mercedes as a non-executive chairman and was close to both Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff.

After George Russell's first F1 victory in Brazil, Toto Wolff told a fascinating story of how Niki Lauda saw great potential in the youngster back when he was in GP3 (F3).

Wolff said:

"Something that I remember is that during George's [title winning campaign in] F3, it was the only podium that Niki ever visited. He said: 'He's going to become a good one'."

George Russell also met Niki Lauda several times while he was at Mercedes' academy. Of course, the legend's prediction about Russell being a good driver proved correct as the Brit won his first F1 race.