I got Mercedes call at 2am on Tuesday. It was awkward. I was in the bathroom

GEORGE RUSSELL has revealed he first became aware of his dream move to Mercedes during a 2am bathroom phone call with team boss Toto Wolff.

Russell, 22, will deputise for seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who has been struck down with coronavirus, at this weekend’s Sakhir GP in Bahrain.

Remarkably, the Brit will be among the favourites to win after swapping his uncompetitive Williams, where he has been for two years, for the fastest car on the F1 grid.

And the King’s Lynn-born ace, in just his second season in F1, can rest easy now after Mercedes struck a deal to lure their junior driver for the penultimate race of the season.

“I don’t think it has sunk in yet because it has all happened so quickly,” said Russell (right).

“It has been an intense 48 hours and I was very anxious on Tuesday waiting to find out if we could strike a deal with Williams.

“I got a phone call from Toto at 2am on Tuesday. I was in the bathroom which was slightly awkward. I answered the phone and he said, ‘George, are you in the bathroom?’. And I said, ‘ Yes, sorry, I am’. He replied by saying, ‘ Unfortunately, Lewis has got Covid. He is healthy, and he feels fine, but we want you to drive’.

“It was then a bit of a sleepless night, but we made it happen the following day. I had 64 phone calls on Tuesday, pinging between so many different people, so I am glad we got there in the end.”

The whirlwind 48 hours caps a rollercoaster year for Russell, who has failed to score a point in his Williams machinery, with speculation surrounding his future there beyond this year.

But now he has his shot in Hamilton’s championship-winning Mercedes. Russell added: “I’d say fairytale is the wrong word. But this is not the way I envisioned my first opportunity in a Mercedes race car.

“It is in incredibly odd circumstances, but this year has just been mental, not just for me, but the whole world.”