Untelevised George Russell, Toto Wolff team radio exchange after British Grand Prix

Untelevised team radio footage from the British Grand Prix has unearthed the moment Mercedes boss Toto Wolff went early in congratulating George Russell on his second-place finish.

An amused Russell batted off the congratulations as he sat hoping for a late problem for Ferrari driver and race winner Charles Leclerc.

George Russell, Toto Wolff team radio after British Grand Prix

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Russell finished second after gaining three positions in the closing stages at Silverstone.

The Mercedes driver had been on course to finish fifth before Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen ran into problems late on, with Russell gaining a further position when Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton pitted under safety car conditions.

Hamilton pitted under the expectation that the race would resume, but the grand prix finished under safety car conditions.

Russell’s runner-up finish came as a major boost to his title hopes, with the British driver reducing his deficit to Antonelli to 25 points in the F1 2026 championship battle.

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With finishing positions locked in, Wolff took the opportunity to congratulate Russell on the penultimate lap, with the driver knocking away Wolff’s premature celebrations as hoped for an problem with Leclerc’s Ferrari.

The full exchange between Wolff, Russell and his race engineer Marcus Dudley went as follows:

Wolff: “George, congrats for P2.”

Russell: “Not finished yet, Toto.”

Russell: “If something happens now, that would be a bit crazy!”

Dudley: “Just about make my day.”

Russell struggled with a lack of straight-line speed over the course of the British Grand Prix weekend.

In an exchange that partially made Sunday’s broadcast on the world feed, Russell was heard urging the team to get to the bottom of the problem before Wolff intervened.

Dudley: “Nice job. Just keep going until the chequered flag comes out; you never know.”

Russell: “Yeah. You never know. Well done for sticking in there, but let’s really try and get on top of this straight-line speed stuff. That was a very frustrating weekend. Otherwise, we got lucky [there]. Work to do.”

Wolff: “Yeah, George, I think straight line was OK in the race.”

Meanwhile, Leclerc found himself at the centre of an amusing moment after the race when his race engineer, Bryan Bozzi, instructed him to line up in front of the board for the third-place finisher in parc ferme.

The pair were heard laughing as Leclerc celebrated only his ninth victory since joining Ferrari at the start of 2019 and his first win since the 2024 United States Grand Prix.

The full exchange on the cooldown lap went as follows:

Bozzi: “And into the pit lane. We stop at the P3 board.”

Bozzi: “P1.”

Leclerc: “Why P3? For f**k’s sake! It’s not that often that we do P1! Nah, but don’t worry: I won’t forget.”

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