© Steve Etherington for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
George Russell explains how he “had the contract on the table from BMW almost ready to sign it”, when he received a phone call from Mercedes.
Back in 2015 George Russell was approached by Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff who offered him sponsorship and support for his European Formula 3 Championship campaign.
However, the young Briton declined the offer at the time.
“I was already having conversations with Toto and Mercedes prior to joining Carlin and Volkswagen,” Russell said on the ‘My Big Break’ podcast.
“After my meeting with Toto at the start of 2015, I sent him an email just to say, ‘I really appreciate the meeting and thanks for all of your advice etc. Just to let you know, I’ll actually be joining Carlin and Volkswagen as opposed to Mücke Motorsport and Mercedes because I believe it’s better for my career’.
“And I had the opinion that if I went out and did a good job, Mercedes would still be interested.
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“So he replied back, ‘I think you’re making a wrong decision but let’s stay in touch and let’s see where we go from there’.”
Later, Russell later got an offer from BMW to race for them in the German DTM series. He explains he was ready to sign the deal, before a surprise phone call from Mercedes made him change his mind.
“I had the contract on the table from BMW almost ready to sign it, and that’s when I got the phone call from Gwen Lagrue [the head of Mercedes junior drivers’ programme].
“I was sat in the bath, actually. He was saying, ‘I want to have a conversation about joining Mercedes’. And that’s where it all started, really.
“It was absolutely clear from Mercedes-Benz if you signed with BMW, there won’t be an option with Mercedes in the future,” George concluded.
