‘Warrior’ George Russell one of ‘top three’ drivers in F1, claims Toto Wolff

The Brit is nine points behind compatriot and championship leader Lando Norris and one point off Max Verstappen in second place

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has described George Russell as “absolutely” among the top three drivers in F1 after a near-perfect start to the 2025 season.

Russell, who now leads the Mercedes line-up after the departure of Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari, is nine points behind championship leader Lando Norris after two grands prix and secured a podium place in both Australia and China.

He put in an impressive performance in Shanghai, finishing third but nearly closing the gap to Norris in second late in the race, and shared the podium with both McLaren drivers. Rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who replaced Hamilton at Mercedes, has also enjoyed a brilliant start to the season, finishing fourth in his debut race.

“Considering the circumstances that George had in China, it is a 10 out of 10 [performance],” Wolff said afterwards.

“All these discussions about Lewis, who is the biggest person in the sport leaving to Ferrari, is a great story, Kimi coming in as the youngest driver and the high potential, and little was said about George.

“I always said that's not right because he's one of the top drivers out there. If you want me to name three that I consider to be the top [drivers], he's absolutely among those three, if not top two, and maybe on his way to top one.”

Wolff did not name the other two he had in mind, but he approved of Russell “rattling the cage” and aiming to put pressure on McLaren - who have won both of the races so far - by saying they could win every race this season because of the class of their car.

“George is a warrior, in the car and outside of the car,” Wolff added.

The Austrian suggested it was accurate to put McLaren so far ahead of the rest of the field, but said his outfit were “closer” in China than they had been the previous week, and they have the chance to narrow the gap to Norris at the Japanese Grand Prix in two weeks’ time.

Italian Antonelli is in fifth, 22 points off Norris, while Hamilton is ninth with nine points after he was disqualified during a terrible weekend for Ferrari in China.