Why Toto Wolff was ‘different’ as George Russell reveals past Red Bull and McLaren talks

George Russell recalled how he reached out to Toto Wolff as a teenager, an email which set the scene for Russell’s route into the Mercedes junior programme.

Russell revealed that he also had “good conversations with McLaren”, while Red Bull was an avenue explored, but he found there to be something “different” when it came to Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, who to Russell, felt “so genuine”.

George Russell: ‘Toto was just different’

Russell won multiple titles on the junior ladder to Formula 1, including winning the GP3 and Formula 2 crowns back-to-back. But before that, he won the British Formula 4 title in 2014, and off the back of that, set about chasing F1 team ties.

There had been interactions with McLaren and Red Bull, but, in a piece for The Players’ Tribune, Russell explained why there was something “different” when he got in touch with Mercedes team boss and one-third owner Toto Wolff.

“At the time, I had the phone numbers of some Formula 1 bosses. So I started calling people, I was emailing people, talking to anybody who would give me the time,” Russell wrote.

“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.

“He replied within 15 minutes.

“I’d had some good conversations with McLaren, had prior contacts with Red Bull, but honestly, Toto was just … different. He seemed so genuine.”

Russell recalled how he and Toto “met at the Mercedes headquarters in January 2015,” while a recently-signed Gwen Lagrue, Mercedes’ junior programme chief, was one of “six other people”, including Wolff, who Russell recalls were in the room.

Wolff previously spoke of Russell’s “PowerPoint presentation” which he uncorked in a bid to land Mercedes’ backing, though Russell notes: “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.”

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Russell joined the Mercedes academy in 2017. Skip forward to 2025, and he is a five-time grand prix winner with Mercedes, having recently penned a new contract with the team.

“I’m really happy to be continuing because the truth is, if every single seat was available for next year and I could choose any single team to race for, I believe Mercedes is my best chance of winning the championship next year,” Russell declared to PlanetF1.com and other media outlets ahead of the United States Grand Prix.

“For me, it’s more about winning than it is about money or sponsor days or anything; I want to win, and this is what I’m fighting for. So that is the long and short of it.”

Russell was remaining tight-lipped on the length of that new deal when quizzed on the matter. PlanetF1.com understands it to be a multi-year deal. But, that could potentially constitute a one-plus-one optional deal, an agreement covering multiple years, but which needs an option from either side to be triggered to activate.

“It always just comes down to performance,” he said.

“I think for any driver, or at least for myself, what allows me to sleep well at night is knowing that my performances are strong, and that is what will keep you in the sport, as any driver.

“So I think, as I said, our intention and my goal is to continue with Mercedes indefinitely. We’re here to focus on winning in 2026, and that’s that.”

Additional reporting by Elizabeth Blackstock

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