Toto Wolff makes driver priority claim as George Russell joins Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes

Toto Wolff has said that George Russell will get exactly the same opportunities as Lewis Hamilton as the Briton joins his 7-time championship-winning compatriot for the first time this season inside the Mercedes garage.

Russell and Hamilton form potentially one of the most exciting driver pairings on the Formula 1 grid, and Mercedes will be hoping that both of them can be challenging for race victories this season and, ultimately, the championship.

Certainly, Hamilton will be eager to go again in the title battle but Russell will have his own aims for success and he has had it confirmed to him by Toto Wolff he’ll have exactly the same chance as Hamilton will to do so.

Speaking ahead of testing this week in Barcelona, Wolff said that the team have never had a one and two driver, and never will:

“We never had a situation where [it was] one and two; they had equal opportunities and the same car,” Wolff was quoted by Sky Sports.

“This year, the interesting situation is we have in George the up-and-coming star [in one seat], and undoubtedly the best Formula 1 driver ever in the other seat.

“So the dynamic is new and clearly it’s something that we will try to steer in a direction that has the most positive effect on developing the car and making us overall competitive.”

Certainly, it’s going to be fascinating watching Russell and Hamilton combine at Mercedes and it’s also massively intriguing to wonder just how quick George will be, now that he is in a car that, despite all the new regulations and potential pitfalls, should be one of the fastest on the grid this season.