Mercedes boss Toto Wolff praised George Russell's performance, but stressed the importance of the work done by Lewis Hamilton testing new features at the Azerbaijan GP
Mercedes returned to the podium last weekend at the Azerbaijan GP, with George Russell collecting his third trophy of the season. The young Briton has now finished in the top five for eight races in a row. Russell is close to breaking a landmark record: becoming Lewis Hamilton's first teammate to finish eight consecutive races in front of the seven-time champion.
George has already equaled Nico Rosberg's mark of seven races between the end of 2015 and the beginning of 2016, the year in which the German won his first and only Formula 1 title. The Briton's performances were praised by Mercedes boss Toto Wolff after the podium at the Baku street circuit.
"He and very good at finishing in good positions and he has been on the podium a few times, and Lewis has been [too]. When your car is not super competitive against the front teams, maximizing those points is important. It's important to consolidate and make sure we're at least third. But at the same time, you in situations like with Ferrari, if they give you a gap, we'll be there," Wolff said.
On the other hand, Toto also came out in defense of the seven-time champion. Hamilton used in Azerbaijan an experimental part in the car and a different rear suspension, which made it bounce more than usual. Lewis even complained about a lot of back pain after finishing the race in fourth. As painful as it was, the Brit's delivery greatly helps the team's information gathering.
"He absolutely is in charge. The decisions were made between him and his team of engineers. Sometimes that goes wrong, he had a very complicated car [in Baku], but this experimental option is great. It's very good for us to progress as a team," the Mercedes boss valued.
The Azerbaijan GP equaled the season opener in Bahrain as the German team's best result in 2022. However, the problems with the kicks left a bad impression. Asked whether Mercedes is already thinking about abandoning the current project and thinking about 2023, Wolff stressed that the team is working hard to resolve the difficulties in the coming months at the latest.
"I think we are looking at all possible solutions. Under the leadership of Mike Elliott, who is a great technical director, there are no miracles and everything is being looked at. We will definitely get the car back on track. If things can't be solved in the near future, they will be solved in the next few months," explained the Austrian manager.
Mercedes is back on track this Sunday (1), for the Canadian GP, with full coverage by GRANDE PRÊMIO.