Toto Wolff makes 'lucky' Mercedes claim over George Russell

Toto Wolff has said Mercedes is "lucky to have" George Russell racing for it after the British driver's superb 2025 F1 season.

The five-time grand prix winner was one of the stand-out performers across the campaign, finishing fourth in the standings behind the three drivers' championship protagonists and amassing nine trips to the podium and twice to the top step.

He was the hallmark of consistency, too, only once qualifying outside the top six, when a reliability issue hampered his grid-setting session in Monaco.

The 27-year-old lined up for that race in P14 and finished two laps down, the only two racing laps he did not complete across the entire year. 

With Lewis Hamilton departing for Ferrari last winter, Russell effortlessly stepped into the team leader role, setting a strong benchmark for rookie Kimi Antonelli to match, something that earned him plaudits throughout the F1 paddock.

"His performances were really outstanding," Wolff said during his end-of-season review. "Because we didn't always give them [Russell and Antonelli] a car that was easy to drive.

"So on some weekends, the car was exceptional from the first free practice. On others, we just couldn't control it; we just never got to a space where it was fast, where it gave them a stable platform.

"And most of the time he was able to drive around it, and the podiums and the victories are testament to that."

The Austrian pursuit of Max Verstappen delayed the Brackley-based squad's re-signing of Russell, which it ultimately did after the four-time F1 drivers' champion opted to stay at Red Bull.

Whilst he remains a possibility for Mercedes in the future, something that could threaten Russell's long-term security, the 53-year-old nonetheless feels his team is fortunate to have the latter in its ranks.

He added: "When you look at the driver standings, considering that we weren't always on top, where he finished and the points he contributed to the constructors' championship [Mercedes finished runner-up to McLaren], is something that he can be proud of, and we are lucky to have him."