Toto Wolff has appraised George Russell's performance after his first 13 races as a permanent Mercedes driver.
The Brit was given the chance to join the Silver Arrows after three years with Williams. Despite driving a car incapable of competing regularly for points, he regularly put in some impressive performances – a highlight being his qualifying lap in Belgium last year which saw him classified second after the race was abandoned due to heavy rain.
He also had a chance to race a Mercedes in 2020, and would likely have won in Sakhir while standing in for Lewis Hamilton had he not suffered a puncture after a pit stop blunder. Since taking the job permanently alongside the seven-time world champion, Russell has excelled.
Despite Mercedes being unable to fight for wins this season due to their inferior car, Russell has been able to consistently score big points. Other than at the British Grand Prix, where he was taken out in a big crash at the first corner, he has finished in the top five of every single race in 2022.
And one of the highest points came at the last race before the summer break in Hungary. During qualifying, he lived up to his Mr Saturday nickname by upstaging the Ferraris to secure pole position for the first time in his Formula 1 career.
Speaking after that achievement, Wolff waxed lyrical about his new star. "George is a champion in the making and he was a champion in all the junior categories – in F3, F2, as a rookie," he gushed. "We would have never put him in a Mercedes if we didn't believe he can be a future world champion.
"It is George's first pole so that will always be something special for him, and us, because that is a moment to remember. But George had these incredible performances in junior series and he had it in Spa last year in the rain. It is just another milestone of the many he is going to achieve."
While his own performances have been impressive, the Norfolk racer has also been praised for helping to push Hamilton to another level this year. "Russell has exceeded my expectations," wrote 1997 champion Jacques Villeneuve in his F1 column after the race in Budapest.
"I knew he was fast but he is above Lewis Hamilton and has given Mercedes its first pole of the year. But we are now seeing Hamilton react, and I think Mercedes could be second in the constructors' standings. We will see."
