Mercedes feared George Russell wouldn’t end Sunday’s Brazilian Grand Prix attributable to a water leak, crew boss Toto Wolff revealed after the British driver celebrated his first Formula One victory.

Russell had led a seemingly trouble-free race from the beginning at Interlagos however Wolff, who didn’t journey to Brazil, instructed reporters on a video name that it had been a unique story behind the scenes. “We had a water leak on the car throughout the race and it wasn’t clear whether we could actually make it to the end,” stated the Austrian.

“We all agreed we’re going to let him drive to the end even without water, on whatever was there to cool it and just try to finish the race.” A crew spokesman stated Russell, whose one-two win with seven-times world champion crew mate Lewis Hamilton was the primary of a tough season for once-dominant Mercedes, had not been knowledgeable.

“We were concerned at one point that we would be four or five laps from the finish and not making it but then it did by the skin of its teeth,” he stated. A failure to complete would have been an enormous blow for the 24-year-old racer, who has suffered such agonies earlier than with Mercedes.

In 2020 the then-Williams driver might have gained when he stood in for Hamilton in Bahrain after the champion was sidelined by COVID-19. Russell certified on the entrance row then and led till the crew bungled a pitstop and despatched him out on the flawed tyres, forcing him to pit once more. He fought again to second when a puncture dropped him again and he ended up ninth.

“He deserved to win in Bahrain and we let him down with the car. 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,” stated Wolff.

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