Toto Wolff sends George Russell clear message over F1 misfortune

Toto Wolff has encouraged George Russell to continue making his "own luck" following his second-place finish at the British Grand Prix.

The 28-year-old overcame a difficult weekend at Silverstone, where he lacked the outright pace of Kimi Antonelli and suffered a mid-race puncture, to capitalise on his team-mate's own slice of misfortune, Max Verstappen's crash, and Ferrari's decision to pit Lewis Hamilton under safety car conditions.

Securing 18 valuable points, the seven-time grand prix winner has pulled within 25 points of the young Italian at the top of the drivers' standings, having been 68 points adrift just three rounds prior.

Russell had to endure a series of unfortunate events through the early part of the campaign that left him on the back foot, but as Antonelli's luck has started to turn against him, by extension, the Briton has been able to take advantage.

When it was put to Wolff, by RacingNews365, that luck may be starting to come towards Russell, the Mercedes team principal took the opportunity to send a message to his drivers.

"You need to make your own luck," the 54-year-old told media. "[At Silverstone], he just held on to a car that he didn't feel was good, and at the end, Max had the accident.

"Lewis wanted to go for the win and pitted, and hopefully he has a bit of positive momentum."

The Austrian was, however, quick to pivot to the overarching problem plaguing the Brackley-based squad's campaign: reliability.

Russell lost a probable win at the Canadian Grand Prix, whilst Antonelli lost second place in Barcelona and almost certain triumph at Silverstone.

"But generally, we just have too many DNFs," Wolff added. "Three victories, well, a second place, and two victories...

"For the constructors' championship and the drivers' championship, that's something that we need to get on top of, because that has been, in a way, other than the top car that we have, and the great driving, the predominant issue. But everybody in the factories is fully on it to solve that."