Toto Wolff tells George Russell he shouldn’t expect to be Mercedes’ number one driver

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George Russell is clearly the more capable driver of winning a world championship within the Mercedes ranks at this moment in time, but team principal Toto Wolff has disclosed why he shouldn’t expect to receive any favourable treatment in future title fights.

The topic of team orders has been a prevalent narrative within Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri’s title fight this season.

Their battle has seen several interventions from the McLaren pitwall, much to the dismay of F1 fans who booed Norris’ wins in Mexico City and Brazil because of a prior incident involving team orders.

The tactic has been at the centre of controversy in the past. After Ferrari’s instruction to Rubens Barrichello at the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix received its fair share of negative press, the use of team orders was banned in subsequent campaigns.

The ban was then lifted for the 2011 season, after the FIA conceded that the rule was not working as intended and needed to be reviewed, as teams found clever ways to get around the regulations.

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Toto Wolff shares whether Mercedes would utilise team orders in a title fight with McLaren next season

During an interview with Sky Sports F1 after the conclusion of FP1 at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Toto Wolff was asked whether the Silver Arrows would put team orders to use if George Russell and Kimi Antonelli were locked into a title fight against the McLaren duo next year.

The Mercedes team principal emphatically shot down the query, saying, “You can’t really, you know how we’ve done it, even in the more difficult years with Lewis [Hamilton] and Nico [Rosberg].

“You’ve just got to give them equal opportunity. Let them go, and then reassess after a handful of races where that is.

“But I would very much hope that we have two drivers that can fight for a constructors’ championship, and drivers that can fight for a drivers’ championship.

“Obviously, Kimi is just going into his second season if that was to happen, and nobody’s expecting that.” 

Wolff has previously explained how McLaren’s team orders row is different to that of the toxic environment that befell Mercedes during Hamilton and Rosberg’s feud during the mid-2010s.

The Austrian believes McLaren are acting more on a ‘corporate’ level to ensure there is no bad blood between their two star drivers, whilst Mercedes were unable to save their ‘two different animals’ from butting heads.

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Mercedes do not want a repeat of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg’s spat if they compete for a title in 2026

One of the leading factors in the emotionally-charged feud between Hamilton and Rosberg was the fact that the two star F1 drivers had formed a close bond as they grew up through the junior racing categories together.

The 2016 Spanish Grand Prix served as a flash point in the spat between the two Mercedes stars. The Silver Arrows clashed on the opening lap of the race, which saw both cars immediately retire from the race in one of Mercedes’ darkest days of recent history.

Max Verstappen went on to win his maiden Grand Prix that day, and Rosberg went on to win his first and only world championship at the end of the year.

The German driver would then go on to retire from the sport after his title feat, and Valtteri Bottas took the place of Rosberg at Mercedes, where he settled in as the perfect wingman to Hamilton.