Mercedes F1 team boss Toto Wolff has finally explained the meaning behind his strange radio message to George Russell at the Hungarian Grand Prix, after the Brit claimed his first pole of his Formula 1 career.
Russell’s brilliant lap at the Hungaroring sealed not only his first-ever F1 pole, but also the team’s first of the season.
The British driver managed to hook everything together on his final lap, to beat Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc to P1.
Wolff’s response possibly wasn’t what many would’ve predicted, with the Austrian saying to his driver over the radio ‘not s**t’.
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The Mercedes team principal has finally explained what the strange wording meant, and how actually it was extremely positive for him.
“I said ‘not s**t’ on my radio,” said Wolff.
“That is pretty high up in my scale by the way, that is not negative.
“It was quite an interesting experience because we knew it was going quick. On our used soft, it was already quite competitive.”
In the race, Russell couldn’t turn his pole into victory, instead finishing third behind Sir Lewis Hamilton.
His team-mate started seventh for the race, after suffering a DRS failure in qualifying.
The seven-time World Champion’s DRS was stuck closed, costing him valuable tenths down the circuit’s only real straight.
Hamilton would’ve probably been in the fight for pole had it not been for the failure, which would’ve supported the British driver’s fight for his first victory of 2022.
Incredibly, Wolff revealed that Hamilton was right in the mix for pole despite his troubling DRS issue.
“We put on the new tyre and the first reaction was ‘the DRS is stuck on Lewis’ – it is a negative,” added Wolff.
“But then the first sector came in and we see the delta time running and I remember saying to the engineers ‘I think we are playing for pole here’ and that was silence on the other side.
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“After sector two, yes, it is going to be fully tight. It is these moments you cherish so much in Formula 1, they come so unexpected but the performance is really there and you do it.”
Mercedes are currently on an impressive run of five consecutive podium finishes, with the German side having also claimed double podiums at back-to-back races.
The eight-time defending Constructors’ Champions are closing in on Scuderia Ferrari rapidly, with the gap now sitting at just 30 points.