George Russell shares first Toto Wolff encounter after email sparked rapid response

George Russell has revealed how he came to be part of the Mercedes young driver programme, sharing the email he sent team principal Toto Wolff in late 2014.

The five-time grand prix winner, who has just signed a contract extension with the Brackley-based squad, was just 16 years old at the time and was preparing to make the step to Formula 3.

However, his parents had told him they could no longer continue funding his fledgling career in motorsport. Russell took decisive action.

Having obtained Wolff's email address, he shot off a quick message to the Austrian shortly after the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

"When I was 16, I realised I had to make my own way," he wrote in a personal essay for The Players' Tribune. "I was in my very first year of cars, in British Formula 4, and my parents told me that they didn’t have the funds anymore to finance my career.

"In my head, everything shifted in that moment. At 16, two years from being a legal adult, you’re starting to feel like a man, you know? But in that moment, I realised how far I was from that. It was like, it’s time for me to step up and make this happen for myself.

"At the time, I had the phone numbers of some Formula One bosses. So I started calling people, I was emailing people, talking to anybody who would give me the time. My manager had actually gotten Toto’s email from one of his other drivers, but he thought I should be the one to take it, so he gave it to me. He believed in me, so he was like, 'Get an email sent off quick.'

"And listen, it didn’t exactly take a rocket scientist to work out… Had to have been something like totowolff@MercedesF1.com!

"I actually remember it very well. It was the Tuesday after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2014. I wrote something like: 'Dear Toto, 

My name’s George Russell. I race in Formula 4. I’ve just won the championship this season. I’m progressing into Formula 3 next year, and I’d love to sit down with you to have your advice for my future career.'

"I didn’t want to send a big CV like, This is me, sign me, sign me, sign me. I don’t know why. I just said, 'I just want to have your advice.' I thought that was the best way to get face time with him."

Wolff's rapid response

Russell did not need to wait around for long. According to the 27-year-old, Wolff replied within a quarter of an hour.

Although he was in contact with McLaren and Red Bull at the time, he felt the Mercedes boss was "genuine" and a first meeting was arranged for early 2015.

"He replied within 15 minutes," Russell wrote. "I’d had some good conversations with McLaren, had prior contacts with Red Bull, but honestly, Toto was just … different. He seemed so genuine.

"We met at the Mercedes headquarters near Silverstone, in January 2015. Toto always tells a story about me walking in in a suit and tie, carrying a briefcase… I don’t think it was quite as extreme as that. Might as well get that on the record. But I definitely had my nicest pair of shoes on. I always used to dress like an old man when I was younger, so I would’ve had a shirt on, and probably a V-neck jumper or something. I looked quite smart as a 16-year-old at the time."

Russell recalled being introduced to some of the key figures at Mercedes, which had just won the first of eight-successive F1 constructors' championships, including Gwen Lagrue, who headed up the junior programme.

"Anyway, I walked into the room, and there were six other people there who were all the heads of the various departments," Russell stated. "Basically, all the top dogs. The head of the junior program, who’d only just been signed, Gwen Lagrue. The head of the DTM, which was the German Touring Car Masters. A couple of other members of the F1 team. Then there was Toto himself."

The British driver reflected on the "leap of faith" the team showed in signing and — at that stage — building its driver academy around him.

"And yeah, it was basically just a conversation for them to get to know me better, and decide whether they wanted to take a bit of a leap of faith doing something different and signing a young driver to, at that point in time, a program that didn’t exist," he added.

"I think I’d already been on their radar. Basically, I wasn’t just a bloke off the street who sent a nice email. It wasn’t totally out of the blue. They’d already been talking about my potential, they’d just hired Gwen to head up the academy, and everything just clicked."