Toto Wolff has given his thoughts on George Russell joining Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes.
Hamilton will have his third Mercedes teammate after Nico Rosberg and Valtteri Bottas in 2022. It will be his fellow Englishman in Russell, who has been very impressive racing for Williams. Russell is 13 years younger than the seven-time champion, and it will be a present-meets-future kind of situation at Mercedes.
Wolff gave his thoughts on Russell joining Hamilton, and revealed that Mercedes will have to make adjustments to accommodate the youngster.
Speaking to the official Formula 1 website, Wolff said, “He (Russell) has proven that he deserves to have a seat in a top car and now we need to get him properly adjusted into the Mercedes situation.
“There’s a lot more pressure. He’s having an unbelievable team mate with the biggest records, and there it’s important that you condition him and you calibrate him in the right way.
Burying the past
Wolff talked about the infamous Hamilton-Rosberg rivalry, and stated the importance of settlement and calibration centred on avoiding those kind of situations.
“We’ve seen situations in the past where they’ve failed,” he said.
“Lewis was part of one where I think the team didn’t quite understand how it could potentially go. And I think we’re maybe a little bit better prepared for that situation.
“But nevertheless, he has all the ambition to be a future world champion, and so has Lewis, to add another one, so it’s about calibration,” he concluded.
Russell and Hamilton will enter the 2022 season with similar, yet different ambitions. Russell will be stepping into a championship-calibre car for the first time, and will want to win a title. Hamilton, meanwhile, will be looking to make history with his eighth or ninth title, depending on how he finishes this season.
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