Russell admission suggests Mercedes boss Wolff may have missed a trick

George Russell joins Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes

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George Russell has waxed lyrical about new F1 star Nyck de Vries, with the outgoing Mercedes reserve driver set to take up a full-time seat with AlphaTauri next season. Russell claims that the 27-year-old was the ‘man to beat’ in the youth ranks, despite coming through alongside a star-studded group including Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc, suggesting that team boss Toto Wolff may have missed a trick. 

De Vries had a glittering junior career before going on to become champion at various levels including Renault 2.0, F2 and Formula E. Even so, it has taken until his late twenties to land an F1 seat, which many feel is long overdue. 

The Dutchman filled in for Alex Albon at the Italian Grand Prix last month, defying the odds to pick up points by finishing P9 in his one and only race for the team. Verstappen was quickly on the scene and supposedly prompted him to call Red Bull chief Helmut Marko, which preceded his move to AlphaTauri. 

Mercedes boss Wolff may feel as though he has let a potential star slip through the net by not convincing him to stick around, particularly given Russell’s admission that he rates the outgoing reserve driver highly and he used to leave current F1 heavyweights trailing in his wake. 

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“Out of the karting boys as such, Nyck was the only one who hadn’t made it to F1, and probably deserved to have made it,” said Russell, via GP Fans. “Those five drivers – myself, Alex [Albon], Max [Verstappen], Charles [Leclerc] and Nyck – who were in that era of racing against each other at 11 or 12, Nyck was the only one who didn’t make it, so I’m happy for him.

“I’ve always rated him. In go-karting, he was the man to beat. Out of all of us, he was probably the most successful. Getting to Formula 1, you need to do the job at the right time when there’s an opportunity on the grid, and sometimes those stars don’t align. 

“The number of stars that were aligned at Monza made up for it. I’m now intrigued to see how he’ll get on but I’ve no doubt he’ll perform well. He’s got all the possibilities to be a great F1 driver.”

De Vries will partner Yuki Tsunoda at AlphaTauri with the team’s current main man, Pierre Gasly, set to head over to Alpine for the start of next season. The Dutchman’s new squad has had a tough 2022, currently sitting second-from-bottom in the Constructors’ Championship with just 34 points on the board, but the close relationship with Red Bull means that a future step up could be on the cards if performances prove difficult to ignore. 

Verstappen’s position within the team is untouchable, having just clinched his second consecutive world title in Japan with four Grands Prix remaining as he sits miles ahead of Leclerc and team-mate Sergio Perez. 

The Mexican is contracted to Red Bull until the end of 2024 which could open up a vacancy for De Vries to aim for before he turns 30. Wolff himself has spoken glowingly of the new AlphaTauri star, calling him ‘fast’, ‘intelligent’ and ‘a fine young man’. 

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