F1 News: Can Russell turn around horrible ’23 performance?

(GMM) Toto Wolff has allayed fears about the poor performance by British Mercedes driver George Russell last year.

In 2022, Russell’s first season alongside Lewis Hamilton, the 25-year-old looked a match for his seven time world champion teammate.

Former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, however, observed after the 2023 season: “Lewis Hamilton slacked off a bit, and George Russell wasn’t as good as he thought he was.”

Team boss Wolff doesn’t agree, even though Russell freely admitted at the tail-end of last year that it had been “one of the worst seasons of my career”.

However, Russell – who unlike Hamilton was present for Wolff’s private 52nd birthday celebrations last Friday – clearly still has the backing of his boss.

“When you do well and expectations get high, life gets complicated,” Wolff told La Gazzetta dello Sport. “But I don’t see any pressure on him.

“George is a young, strong driver, racing on a team with the best driver and challenging him, trying to beat him while he learns,” the Austrian added.

“But he has met all our expectations. When I think of his age and talent, he is someone I would always want on one of my teams.”