Toto Wolff reveals how close Mercedes were to replacing George Russell with Valtteri Bottas before Baku podium

George Russell claimed his seventh podium of the 2025 Formula 1 season at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix despite suffering from an illness throughout the weekend.

Russell was excused from his media duties on the first few days of the race weekend due to suffering from flu symptoms upon his arrival at the Baku City Circuit.

However, the British driver was able to fight through the illness to dispatch Carlos Sainz, Liam Lawson and Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli to finish second behind Max Verstappen from fifth on the grid.

Antonelli also secured a positive result at the street circuit, finishing fourth to mark his first top-five finish since his maiden F1 podium at the Canadian Grand Prix in June. The result for Antonelli comes after increasing pressure for the youngster to improve his results.

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Toto Wolff reveals that Mercedes were ‘very close’ to replacing George Russell with Valtteri Bottas in Baku

In the case of illness for a full-time driver, the team’s reserve driver would usually step in to take the reins. For Mercedes, that would have been future Cadillac driver Valtteri Bottas.

The Finn has served as the reserve for the German constructor since he lost his seat at Sauber after the conclusion of the 2024 F1 season.

Speaking to ORF following the chequered flag in Baku, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff revealed how close the team were to replacing the British driver with the man whose seat he took at the end of 2021.

Asked how sick Russell really was, Wolff replied, “Well, quite sick. So really, really bad with fever and on Friday, we were really very close to putting in Valtteri, because George said he doesn’t believe he can do it.

“Then the medication kicked in, and then it was better.”

Bottas would have had to serve a grid penalty if he took the wheel of Russell’s Mercedes due to a grid penalty he picked up in the final race of the 2024 campaign.

However, the Finn will see his penalty expire by the time the 2026 season rolls around. The FIA recently implemented a change to the regulations that would see all grid penalties expire after 12 months if they aren’t served.

READ MORE: George Russell makes ‘amazing’ Carlos Sainz comment after his first Williams F1 podium at Baku

George Russell noted that he felt ‘much better’ during the Grand Prix on Sunday

Luckily for the Brit, symptoms had eased up by the time the Grand Prix rolled around, and he was able to perform to the best of his abilities at the Azerbaijani circuit.

Speaking to journalists in the media pen after the race, Russell said, via Formula 1, “I was pretty glad when I saw the chequered flag, to be honest.

“Fortunately, I felt much better today than I felt on Friday and Saturday, so I’m looking forward to a bit of rest now.”

The four-time Grand Prix winner will have a week’s rest before the F1 circus continues in Singapore at the start of October.

The result in Baku means that Mercedes leapfrogged Ferrari in the constructors’ championship, so the Silver Arrows will be hoping to stretch out a lead on their F1 rivals.