Toto Wolff hails 'unbelievable' George Russell for 'wounded' Mercedes performance

Toto Wolff has lauded George Russell's "unbelievable drive" in the Bahrain Grand Prix, after the British driver wrestled his "wounded" Mercedes home in second place.

The transponder on Russell's W16 failed, leaving the 27-year-old difficult to track in the closing stages. Wolff has explained how the brake-by-wire system also stopped working correctly on the Mercedes.

There were additional problems with his steering wheel display and DRS, the latter of which saw Russell called before the stewards under the threat of losing his podium finish after his rear wing inadvertently opened when it should not have.

However, aided by a precedent set by Sergio Perez going unpunished for a similar issue at Baku in 2018 and Russell backing off to prevent gaining an advantage, the officials opted not to penalise the three-time grand prix winner.

"Brake by wire failed suddenly, and then it took a while to find the settings to reset it, but we did that," the Austrian told media including RacingNews365 when discussing Russell's race.

"Him managing the system, coming in and out, whilst having [Lando] Norris behind him is just an unbelievable drive, to be honest.

"What he did secured us this podium...considering the car was wounded, finishing P2 in front of Norris is just a really great result."

Wolff offers relatable comparison

The 53-year-old also highlighted Russell completing the final phase of the race on used soft tyres, maintaining them over 25 laps to hold off Lando Norris despite the pace deficit to the McLaren.

"On top of that, taking the soft for such a long time was also great between managing and then attacking when he needed to," Wolff added.

Returning to address the brake-by-wire issue, he lent on a relatable comparison to illustrate just how challenging conditions would have been for his driver in the cockpit of the Mercedes.

"If you haven't driven a race car that has a BBW [brake by wire] or conventional brakes, it's like on a road car when the power steering fails," Wolff said.

"Then imagine you have to adjust between one corner having it and the next one not having it. That was just very good skill."