Nico Rosberg shares what Toto Wolff might have done to resolve the Lewis Hamilton-George Russell situation at Mercedes

Former F1 world champion Nico Rosberg mentioned that Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff needed to sit Lewis Hamilton and George Russell down to stop the tension between them from increasing.

Both British drivers clashed with each other on the opening lap of the F1 2023 Qatar GP as they were fighting for the lead in the race with Max Verstappen. Hamilton crashed out of the race while Russell sustained some car damage despite finishing an impressive P4.

It was notable that Toto Wolff wasn't at the track as he was nursing his knee injury. While appearing on the Sky Sports Podcast, Rosberg suggested that Wolff should sit with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell individually and together as well. He said:

"What Toto can do, maybe when they are back in Monaco [at home] on the Monday after Qatar, maybe he would have sat down with both or go and visit Lewis' apartment and sit down with George individually first. Then ideally you also sit them together,"

"He's had so much experience with managing team-mates, so he knows what needs to be done. The most important thing for him is to be neutral, which is advice Alain Prost gave him during my time. So I'm sure Toto will have learned a lot and I'm sure he will be managing that well."

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Nico Rosberg instructs George Russell to not be a "nice guy" against Lewis Hamilton

The 2016 champion stated that George Russell shouldn't play the "nice guy" within the team against Lewis Hamilton and stand his ground after the incident.

He said:

"It's a very difficult situation for George as well. Unfortunately, you can't just be the nice guy in that situation - you have to also internally keep the pressure on. You have to make it difficult for the team, unfortunately. It sucks, but otherwise, the team will always just take the easiest route.

"So it's very uncomfortable because George needs to be pushing - which he does on the radio, you hear him saying things like 'again' and things like that. So he's really trying to hold against it."

It will be fascinating to see how the relationship between George Russell and Lewis Hamilton develops in the next races heading into the 2024 season. The pair seems really harmonious right now but will that change if Mercedes comes up with a more competitive car to challenge Red Bull in the near future, that is to be seen.