Toto Wolff claims George Russell has made ‘2500 people happy’ after the Abu Dhabi GP despite being outscored by Lewis Hamilton

George Russell was regarded higher for the P2 finish in the constructors as compared to Lewis Hamilton by Toto Wolff.

Toto Wolff claims George Russell has made ‘2500 people happy’ after the Abu Dhabi GP despite being outscored by Lewis Hamilton

Toto Wolff, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell (via IMAGO).

The 2023 F1 season has finally ended with Max Verstappen securing his 19th victory at the ultimate race of the Abu Dhabi GP. Mercedes took over the runner-up spot in the constructor’s championship after a cut-throat competition with Ferrari towards the end. Toto Wolff has hence applauded George Russell for the successful stint at Mercedes despite Lewis Hamilton outscoring him.

The Mercedes F1 team scored a total of 409 points and held a minuscule three-point lead over Ferrari. Toto Wolff burst with happiness on this occasion and applauded George Russell for the P2 finish in the constructor’s championship.

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The Austrian billionaire acknowledged the difficulty in obtaining a P2 finish with the underwhelming W14 this season. Further, Wolff appreciated George Russell over the points and exclaimed how he made 2500 crew members of the Brackley-based outfit happy after scoring mega-points at the Abu Dhabi GP after finishing an impressive P3.

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I know it was a super difficult race with that car, but it's P2. George, you've made 2500 people happy. That's mortgages, tuition fees, kitchens, all of that...
Wolff said in an interview (H&T: @fiagirly/X).

Despite driving the same machinery at the Abu Dhabi GP, George Russell seriously outscored Lewis Hamilton in the ultimate race of the season. However, Hamilton’s efforts for the team might have been overshadowed due to a few bad races for the ex-world champion as he was not regarded on the same level as Russell due to his underperformance at the ultimate race of the season.

What was the point disparity between George Russell and Lewis Hamilton?

In the drivers standings, Lewis Hamilton occupies the third spot meanwhile George Russell is in a mediocre eighth position. Also, it’s worth noting that Hamilton had scored a total of 57% of the team’s points for Mercedes this season and still didn’t receive the same applause as Russell, despite scoring better in just the last race.

Lewis Hamilton.
Lewis Hamilton (via IMAGO)

Additionally, Lewis Hamilton scored a total of six podiums as compared to the minuscule two podiums for Russell in this season. Despite the overlook from Wolff and the team, Hamilton still appreciated the team’s efforts in scoring the P2 finish and thanked everyone for their continuous hard work, and finally congratulated the team for the finish.

It was disappointing to see Russell being regarded higher than Hamilton despite him scoring more points this season. However, the team would like to put the mediocre season of 2023 behind them and hope for better results in the upcoming season of 2024.

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