GEORGE RUSSELL has been warned by Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff he must respect ‘certain boundaries’ when he joins from Williams.
The 23-year-old driver was confirmed as Lewis Hamilton’s team-mate for the 2022 season last month, replacing Valtteri Bottas.
And the British star has declared that he is not joining Mercedes to be Hamilton’s No 2.
Having previously been referred to as a “wingman” for the 36-year-old Hamilton by Wolff, Russell stated he intends to compete for the Formula One World Championship with his compatriot.
And former F1 star David Coulthard believes that the pair will clash due to Russell’s eagerness to win.
It is something that Wolff is desperate to avoid following Hamilton’s fiery rivalry with ex-team-mate Nico Rosberg, before the German quit in 2016 after winning the world title.
Not looking for history to repeat itself, Wolff has insisted that no driver is bigger than the team.
Wolff told the Daily Mail: “This is Mercedes. We have no place for the genius jerk. Even a superstar driver has to respect team values.
“But with Lewis, we’ve been eight years together now. He’s not an arrogant, spoiled little kid.
“He’s a mature racer who has won seven titles, six with us, so we can take those moments, it’s part of our role to be a trash bin for the driver sometimes.
“In the car, you can get very frustrated and emotional. You are racing at 200mph, in the rain, you have no idea about the overall picture of the race and decisions are being made that you cannot understand. In the early years, I would bite back at Lewis.
“He was very young and I had to make the point that I wouldn’t allow the driver to bad-mouth the team. But we’ve been moved on from there a long time.
“Still, I wouldn’t hesitate in the future if a driver talked bad about the team or wasn’t appropriate, I would first deal with it internally and if that didn’t yield results I would take the driver out of the car. On the bench, yes.
“I don’t think that would ever be Lewis. He’s a team member, not a contractor, a driver that comes and goes.
“We’ve been together since 2013. We know each other so well, there’s so much trust and respect. I was close to putting a driver on the bench when it was Lewis and Rosberg. Twice. In 2014 and 2016.
“I said I would judge over 48 hours whether one needed to sit out. I still don’t know who it would have been.
“But that was long ago. It is unimaginable given the relationship I have with Lewis today that it could happen now.”
He added: “And George Russell is another intelligent young man. He will slot into the team but that doesn’t mean he has to hold back when driving. You can’t expect a lion in the car and a puppy out of it.
“But there are certain boundaries within the team that must be respected and George knows them very well. Once the lights are green, only the drivers are responsible.
“I can’t interfere, manage, or remote control them, but one thing is of ultimate importance — don’t touch. That’s your responsibility. You can race hard, but no contact.
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“I’ve been there before with Nico when it wasn’t just a rivalry. There was a lot of animosity and that’s not going to happen.
“This is about showing respect for each other and it can be hard because if you race on the same spot on the race track you will eventually come across each other — but there is an integrity we expect that no one is ever bigger than the team.
“The drivers know that. You represent 2,000 people who work for us and 350,000 people who work for Mercedes. So again, you are the solar system and the Mercedes star — that’s the sun.”
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
