George Russell almost denied Brazil GP win by Toto Wolff after worries arose over intercom | F1 | Sport

Russell looked at one point to be in danger of being caught by seven-time champion Hamilton after the safety car restart but the Kings Lynn-born driver kept his cool. And Wolff declared he was thoroughly deserving of his victory, having been agonisingly denied in Bahrain back in November 2020.

“I think he deserved to win in Bahrain, and we let him down with the car,” Wolff told media, including RacingNews365.com. “That’s why today this victory makes us happy because he could have had one on the clock two years ago, and he didn’t and now he has that first victory.”

The result means Russell is now 25 points clear of Hamilton in fourth place in the Drivers’ Championship with only one race to go as the teams head to Abu Dhabi for the 2022 finale.

But with just 19 points separating Ferrari and Mercedes in the Constructors’ standings, Mercedes will be guaranteed to finish second if both teams repeat their results in Brazil.