14/04/2025 14:10
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."
