As of the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix, Russell has achieved three race wins, four pole positions, eight fastest laps and 15 podiums in Formula One. Russell is set to remain at Mercedes until at least the end of the 2025 season.[1]
Russell took up karting at the age of 7, catching the habit from his brother Benjy, a competitive karter who won the 2007 Super 1 National Kart Championship in the Rotax Max category.[10] Russell picked up his number 63 from the kart his brother rented at the time.[11][7]
At 18, Russell moved to Milton Keynes to be closer to his junior racing team.[12] He moved to Monaco in 2022.[6]
Russell began karting in 2006 and progressed to the cadet class by 2009, becoming MSA British champion and British Open champion. In 2010 he moved to the Rotax Mini Max category where he became Super One British champion, Formula Kart Stars British champion, and also won the Kartmasters British Grand Prix. Russell graduated to the KF3 class in 2011, winning the SKUSA Supernationals title and becoming CIK-FIA European Champion, a title he successfully defended in 2012.[15] In his final year of karting in 2013, Russell finished 19th in the KF1CIK-FIA World Championship.[2][16]
Russell finished fourth in Formula Renault 2.0.[22] Although he was initially supposed to race for Prema, he switched to Koiranen before the start of the season.[18]The Race and Autosport later alleged that Lance Stroll's father (Prema's part-owner and main funder) vetoed Russell from the team,[23][24] even though Stroll was racing in Italian F4 and not Formula Renault. Regardless, Russell landed with a strong team; teammate Nyck de Vries (who was three years older than Russell) won nine out of twelve races. Looking back, Russell admitted that he was not a good fit for the Koiranen team,[23] but strongly praised de Vries, remarking that he "was always one of the very best,"[25] and that especially "in go-karting, he was the man to beat."[26] Russell also raced as a guest in Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, winning one race at Jerez.[27]
At the end of the season, Russell competed for the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award (which came with a £100,000 cash prize, a Formula One test with McLaren, and British Racing Drivers' Club membership), testing Formula Two, DTM, and GT3 cars.[28] The seventeen-year-old Russell became the youngest-ever winner of the award, after the BRDC lowered the entry age to accommodate him.[23][28] He was also selected for the BRDC's SuperStars junior driver mentorship programme, where he was once again the youngest-ever selection.[29]
Russell spent two years in European Formula Three, racing for Carlin in 2015[30] and Hitech GP in 2016. In 2015, he finished sixth,[31] winning one race[32] and collecting three podiums. He was second in the Rookies' Championship, behind Charles Leclerc.[33] He also finished second at the 2015 Masters of Formula 3 exhibition race, behind Antonio Giovinazzi.[34]
In 2016, Russell finished third. After making it to Formula One, he questioned the fairness of the 2016 competition, stating that it was "almost laughable to see ... how wrong that championship was."[35] That year, Prema Powerteam continued to receive funding from Lance Stroll's family,[36] and allegedly received special engines from Mercedes.[37] Although Russell was the highest-placed non-Prema racer, Stroll nearly doubled Russell's points tally. Nonetheless, Mercedes was sufficiently impressed by Russell's performances that it signed him to its driver academy at the end of the season.[35]
GP3 Series
Russell racing at the 2017 Spa-Francorchamps GP3 round
Armed with Mercedes funding, Russell secured a drive with ART Grand Prix, GP3's dominant team, for the 2017 season.[38] He won the title as a rookie,[39] and ART swept the top four places in the standings. Russell scored four wins and seven podiums, finishing 79 points ahead of the second-placed Jack Aitken, and locked up the title with two races to go.[39] Notable races included a dominant performance at Spa-Francorchamps (a win, a second place, two poles, and two fastest laps)[40] and a close three-way battle at Monza.[41]
ART promoted Russell to its Formula Two team for the 2018 season.[42][43] In addition, Mercedes promoted Russell to first-team reserve driver, sharing duties with Pascal Wehrlein.[44] The 2018 F2 grid was exceptionally strong, featuring several future F1 racers, including Lando Norris, Alexander Albon, Nyck de Vries, and Nicholas Latifi. Even so, Russell submitted another dominant performance, finishing 68 points ahead of the second-placed Norris.
Russell struggled early in the season, finishing out of the points in two of the first three races, due in part to poor luck.[45] He picked up his first win at Baku, where he fought his way from 12th on the grid to win the sprint race.[46] At midseason, he began to pull away from the field. A dominant win at Le Castellet[47] kicked off a strong run of form where he finished either first or second in five out of six races.
With his title, Russell became the fifth rookie champion of the GP2/F2 category (previously achieved by Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton, Nico Hülkenberg, and Charles Leclerc), the fourth driver to win the GP3/F3 and GP2/F2 titles in consecutive seasons (after Hamilton, Hülkenberg and Leclerc), and the second driver to win both of these titles as a rookie (after Leclerc). Oscar Piastri subsequently matched each of these feats.
Russell began working with Mercedes in 2016, logging time in their simulator.[49] Due to the high cost of racing in the junior categories, he was forced to seek funding from a Formula One team's junior driver programme.[50] Russell signed with the Mercedes Junior Team in early 2017[51] after impressing Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff with a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation explaining why Wolff should sign him.[52][53] Wolff "set hard targets" for Russell, asking him to win the GP3 and Formula 2 titles before progressing to Formula One.[54]
In 2018, Russell became one of Mercedes' reserve drivers. He once again drove a Mercedes for that year's in-season Hungaroring test,[57][58] and tested Pirelli's tyres for Force India after the Spanish Grand Prix in May.[59][60]
In October 2018, Williams announced that Russell had signed a multi-year deal to drive for them,[61] partnering Robert Kubica for the 2019 season.[62] His first appearance for Williams was at the 2018 post-season test at Yas Marina Circuit, driving the FW41.[63] Russell remained a Mercedes academy driver and tested the team's F1 W10 EQ Power+ on two occasions.[64]
Russell ended the season 20th in the Drivers' Championship, scoring no points.[65] Although Mercedes had hoped that Williams would field a competitive car – Russell later noted that Williams had finished no worse than fifth in the constructors' standings from 2015 to 2017[66] – Williams' 2019 car, the FW42, was the slowest car of the field.[67] In most races Kubica was Russell's only on-track competition: Russell did not finish ahead of a car from another team until round six, the Monaco Grand Prix. Russell also outqualified Kubica at all twenty-one races.[68] In his debut race, the Australian Grand Prix, Russell qualified 19th and finished 16th. His highest placement of the season was 11th at the rain-affected German Grand Prix, but Kubica overtook him in the closing laps, leaving him point-less for the season.[69][70] He also finished 12th at the Brazilian Grand Prix, aided by a well-timed safety car.[71]
Following Kubica's departure from Formula One, Russell was paired with his former Formula 2 competitor Nicholas Latifi.[72] The Williams car was more competitive than in 2019, but it did not show up in the standings,[citation needed] as Williams did not score any points all year. Although Russell outperformed Latifi on track, the team was so strapped for cash that it considered replacing Russell with Kevin Magnussen if Magnussen could find enough sponsor money to keep the team afloat.[73] However, this never came to fruition, and the Williams family sold the team in October.[74] As a tribute to the Williams family, Russell donned a special helmet for the final race of the season.[75] Despite Williams' struggles, Russell's performances impressed the Formula One team principals, who ranked him the No. 6 driver of the season in their annual poll.[76]
Russell came close to 10th place on several occasions. At the Styrian Grand Prix, Russell qualified in 11th place, a personal best, after a wet qualifying session.[77] However, he ran wide into the gravel in the early laps and ultimately finished 16th,[78] both Williams drivers struggling for race pace.[79] He made recovery drives at the British Grand Prix (from 20th to 12th) and the Tuscan Grand Prix (from 18th to 9th, although he fell back at the restart and finished 11th).[80] At the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, he also crashed out from 10th place under safety car conditions, an incident he described as the "biggest mistake of [his] career".[81]
Mercedes stand-in
When Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton tested positive for COVID-19 before the Sakhir Grand Prix, with Williams' approval, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff invited Russell to fill in for Hamilton.[82] Before the race, Russell declared that he felt "no pressure",[83] although Wolff expected him to finish in the top five.[84][85]
Russell's performance at Sakhir was widely acclaimed, receiving praise from both Mercedes and the media.[86][87] He qualified on the front row, 26 milliseconds behind teammate Valtteri Bottas.[88] He overtook Bottas at the first corner and led the majority of the race. However, Russell was forced to pit twice in-a-row when the Mercedes pit crew accidentally fitted Bottas' front tyres on his car, following a radio failure.[89][90] He overtook Bottas a second time, recovered to second place, and was closing in on race leader Sergio Pérez, when a puncture forced him to pit again with ten laps to go.[91] Russell finished ninth. Although he earned his first World Championship points—two points for ninth and one for the fastest lap—he remarked that the result "really bloody hurt".[92][93] Russell returned to Williams for the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix,[94] which he described as a "strange feeling".[95]
2021: Maiden F1 podium
Williams retained the Russell-Latifi pairing in 2021,[96] and enjoyed its best season in several years; the Williams car was capable of competing in the midfield. Russell placed 15th in the Drivers' Championship, scoring 16 points to Latifi's 7. Russell continued his testing duties for Mercedes during the season.[97]
Russell entered 2021 amidst speculation that he would replace Valtteri Bottas at Mercedes in 2022. (Following Russell's promotion to Mercedes in 2022, Russell implied that Mercedes had looked into finding him a new team for 2021, but his three-year contract with Williams was airtight.[66]) At the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in round two, Russell found himself alongside Bottas on lap 30. He attempted to overtake Bottas, but drove onto a wet patch and lost control of his car, crashing into Bottas and causing a double retirement.[98] Russell initially blamed the incident on Bottas, walking over to Bottas after the crash and slapping his helmet (Bottas responded with a middle finger), and accusing him of "trying to kill [them] both".[99] However, Russell later retracted his claims and apologised to Bottas and Williams.[100] Mercedes boss Toto Wolff acknowledged that Bottas should not have been side by side with a Williams in the first place, but reserved the bulk of his criticism for Russell, a Mercedes junior who had just taken out a Mercedes.[101]
Russell at the 2021 Austrian Grand Prix. He finished 11th, but received praise from Fernando Alonso for his performance.
Russell came close to scoring points at a number of races, including at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, where a gearbox failure prevented him from capitalising on a restart while he was in 15th place;[102] a 12th-place finish at the French Grand Prix, where he recovered from 19th with no retirements in the race;[103][104] a mechanical retirement at the Styrian Grand Prix after starting the race in 10th place;[105][106] and a 12th-place finish at the British Grand Prix after a penalty in qualifying. At the Austrian Grand Prix, Russell qualified in 8th place, Williams' highest grid position since 2017.[107][108] He was still in 10th near the end of the race, but after a ten-lap defensive battle, Fernando Alonso passed him with four laps to go.[109][110] After the race, Alonso consoled Russell with a hug.[110] The Spaniard ruefully explained that "I was hoping it was anyone but him. ... He will have more opportunities hopefully for podiums or wins in the future."[111]
Russell scored his first points for Williams two races later at the Hungarian Grand Prix, moving from 17th on the grid to 8th.[112] In the very next race, Russell collected his maiden podium at the Belgian Grand Prix under unusual circumstances. He started second after a rain-affected qualifying session, the first front-row start for Williams since the 2017 Italian Grand Prix.[113] As the weather continued to deteriorate, the stewards opted to run the entire race under safety car conditions, handing Russell his first Formula One podium finish.[114] Russell also scored points at the Italian Grand Prix (9th) and the Russian Grand Prix (10th, after qualifying in 3rd).[115]
Russell finally obtained his long-awaited move to Mercedes in 2022, replacing Valtteri Bottas and joining seven-time World Drivers' Champion Lewis Hamilton.[116] He chose to change his red helmet design to a predominantly black design out of respect for Michael Schumacher.[117] His timing was unfortunate, as his move coincided with a regulation change, and Mercedes was no longer the dominant force in Formula One. In his first race as a full-time Mercedes driver, the Bahrain Grand Prix, Russell qualified ninth and finished fourth.[118]
Russell made the most out of a bad situation, scoring Mercedes' only win of the year and finishing fourth in the Drivers' Championship, outscoring teammate Hamilton by 35 points.[119][120] Russell noted that both drivers were subjected equally to Mercedes' experiments throughout the season, but admitted that Hamilton was willing to take more risks while setting up the car.[121]
He took his first Mercedes podium at the Australian Grand Prix, benefitting from a pit stop during a safety car period to start sixth and finish third.[122] At the Hungarian Grand Prix, Russell took his maiden pole position in Formula One, 0.044 seconds ahead of Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Jr.[123] He led much of the race but was later overtaken by Max Verstappen and teammate Hamilton, finishing third. At the São Paulo Grand Prix, Russell won the sprint and feature races to claim his maiden Grand Prix victory and Mercedes' first win of the season.[124][125]
Russell was involved in a first-lap crash at the British Grand Prix involving several drivers. He jumped out of his car to check on Zhou Guanyu, whose car had flipped over the tyre barrier and was resting upside-down against the catch fence. The marshals brought the car back to the pits, which under the rules ended Russell's race.[126][127] In addition, Russell collided with pole-sitter Sainz at the first corner of the United States Grand Prix, receiving a time penalty and causing Sainz's retirement. He later apologised to Sainz. Although he finished fifth, he described the race as his "worst Sunday" of the year.[128]
Russell remained at Mercedes alongside Hamilton for 2023. After finishing seventh at the season-opener Bahrain Grand Prix, he stated the team were "a long way behind".[129]
At the Spanish Grand Prix, he collided with teammate Hamilton in Q2 and qualified 12th, both drivers blaming a miscommunication.[130] However, the Mercedes cars were very quick on race day and scored a double podium finish, with Hamilton second and Russell third.[131] Russell qualified fourth at the Canadian Grand Prix,[132] but hit the wall on lap 12 and suffered a puncture and a broken front wing, re-joining the race in 19th place. He had recovered to eighth when he retired due to brake wear.[133] At the Singapore Grand Prix, he missed out on pole position by 0.072 seconds and was on pace for a podium, but crashed out from third place on the final lap.[134][135] He was demoted from fourth to eighth at the Las Vegas Grand Prix with a penalty for colliding with Max Verstappen.
At the Australian Grand Prix, Russell qualified second and took the lead from Verstappen at the race start. Following a safety car, Russell opted to pit for new tyres, but the stewards red-flagged the race while Russell was pitting, meaning that Russell had to restart the race in seventh place. He recovered to fourth place before retiring with an engine failure.[136] He qualified third at the Dutch Grand Prix, but lost places due to a late switch to intermediate tyres as rain began to fall. He later recovered to the top ten and was in eighth place at the restart after a red flag, but damage from contact with Lando Norris demoted him back outside the points.[137] Russell, Lance Stroll, and Liam Lawson simultaneously tied Alain Prost's dubious record of 7 pit stops, the most in Formula One history.[138] Russell also took the unusual step of a one-stop strategy at the Japanese Grand Prix (he was the only driver to do so); as his tyres degraded, he dropped from third place to seventh on his final stint.[139]
He qualified outside the top ten for both the sprint and main race at the Austrian Grand Prix, having reported a hydraulics failure in the sprint shootout. He qualified second at the Qatar Grand Prix but finished fourth after colliding with teammate Hamilton at the first corner, for which Hamilton claimed responsibility.[140]
Russell salvaged a measure of pride with a third-place finish at the season finale Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, his second podium of the season. His result clinched second place in the Constructors' Championship for Mercedes. He commented that he had "let the side down a couple of times this year", but that it meant "a huge amount" to help the team finish second.[141] Russell finished eighth in the Drivers' Championship, the lowest for a Mercedes driver since 2012, with Hamilton in third, 59 points ahead. Russell called his own season "a complete disaster".[139] Mercedes extended his contract until the end of 2025.[142]
The 2024 season was the final year of the Russell-Hamilton pairing at Mercedes, as Hamilton announced before the season that he would race for Ferrari in 2025. Mercedes got off to a poor start and was already 180 points behind Red Bull in the constructors' championship after Monaco. Mercedes went half the season without a single podium finish for either Russell or Hamilton. However, Russell commented early on that the team was "making progress" with the W15, following a disappointing seventh-place finish at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.[143]
Mercedes's form dramatically improved at midseason, picking up three wins in four races and kicking off a run of six consecutive podium finishes for at least one Mercedes driver. Russell achieved his second career pole position at the Canadian Grand Prix; although Max Verstappen set the same time, Russell won the tiebreaker because he set his time first.[144] He finished third to take Mercedes' first podium of the season.[145] He qualified fourth at the Austrian Grand Prix and took advantage of a late-race collision between Verstappen and Lando Norris to claim his second career victory,[146] Mercedes' first win since São Paulo in 2022. Russell praised the team, saying that the car had "made so many strides since the start of the season".[147] He followed this with another pole position at the British Grand Prix, but fell behind teammate Hamilton and both McLarens as the rain began, before retiring from the race with a water system issue.[148]
Russell finished first on track at the Belgian Grand Prix after completing a one-stop strategy; he pitted on lap 10 of 44 for hard tyres and held off Hamilton and Oscar Piastri, both of whom had made two pit stops.[149] However, following the chequered flag, Russell was disqualified from the race after his car failed to reach the minimum weight requirement, handing Hamilton the victory.[150] Team principal Toto Wolff apologised to Russell, admitting "we have clearly made a mistake".[151] Russell was the first driver to lose a race win to a post-race disqualification since Michael Schumacher lost the 1994 Belgian Grand Prix.[152]
Mercedes' performance fell off after Belgium, with neither Russell or Hamilton finishing in the top-four at the Dutch and Italian Grands Prix. Russell achieved an unexpected podium finish at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, after Sergio Pérez collided with Carlos Sainz Jr. with two laps remaining, later stating that "we've got to be realistic" about the current state of the car.[153] At the United States Grand Prix, Russell overcame a qualifying crash and subsequent pitlane start, as well as a five-second time penalty, to finish sixth, despite both Mercedes drivers struggling with the W15 and Hamilton crashing out on lap two.[154][155] At the rain-affected São Paulo Grand Prix, Russell led the opening 28 laps of the race after overtaking polesitter Lando Norris into the first corner, but lost his position after Mercedes commanded him to pit for new intermediate tyres despite his objections.[156] The race was soon red-flagged, giving several competitors a free tyre change and condemning Russell to finish fourth.[157]
At the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Russell qualified on pole and secured his third career victory, finishing seven seconds ahead of Hamilton after leading 49 of 50 laps.[158]
2025
Russell is set to be partnered by academy driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli for 2025, following Hamilton's departure to Ferrari.[159]
Driver profile
Throughout his career, Russell has consistently been praised for his qualifying pace. At Williams, the Briton drove an unimpressive car to unexpectedly high grid placements on several occasions, most notably Spa 2021 (second) and Sochi 2021 (third).[160][161] He outqualified teammates Robert Kubica and Nicholas Latifi 57 out of 59 times.[162] Russell acquired the nickname "Mr. Saturday" for his Williams qualifying feats,[163] although he has downplayed the nickname, explaining that the goal is to win on Sunday.[164] At Mercedes, Russell became the only teammate in Lewis Hamilton's career (Hamilton being Formula One's all-time leader in pole positions) to outqualify him head-to-head during their time as teammates, and one of only two teammates (the other being 2016 champion Nico Rosberg) to outqualify him in a single season.[165][166]
In addition, Russell's clean driving has received plaudits. Sebastian Vettel said that Russell is "always fair" on track,[167] and Karun Chandhok said that Russell "is generally one of the cleanest racers" in F1.[168]
However, Russell's racecraft has received some criticism, as Russell has not always converted high grid placements into high finishes. As a rookie, Russell was plagued by poor starts; that year, "he started lap two behind Kubica 11 times despite his qualifying superiority."[169] More broadly, it took Russell two and a half seasons to score his first points at Williams. The Race responded that Russell's race day struggles at Williams were primarily the fault of the car, reasoning that Russell's strong grid placements at Williams were "in a constant battle against regression to the mean," and it was "inevitable that his Sunday results [were] less impressive."[169] In addition, while Russell was praised for his tyre management at Williams,[169] he overextended his tyres on several occasions at Mercedes, contributing to some disappointing results.[170] Russell's tyre management received renewed praise during the 2024 season, following strong performances at Spa,[171]Austin,[172] and Monaco.[173]
Although Russell prioritized consistency during his first season with Mercedes, he began taking greater risks in the following seasons, and committed several high-profile mistakes, notably during the 2024 Canadian Grand Prix, where Motor Sport thought he botched Mercedes' first real chance at a win since 2022.[174] Following that race, Russell admitted that he "need[s] to dial down the risk/reward [ratio] of how hard I'm driving," but explained that "I'd prefer finishing P6 every race and having two victories rather than finishing P5, P4, P3 every race and not get the race victory."[175] He picked up two victories later that season.
In March 2021, Russell was appointed as a director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA), the Formula One drivers' trade union. He replaced Romain Grosjean, who had left Formula One for IndyCar.[176] As a director, Russell's primary role is to relay the paddock's concerns about safety, racing quality, and the junior driver pipeline to the GPDA's full-time personnel.[177]
In March 2022, Russell agreed to lend his name to the GB4 Championship's pole position trophy. The George Russell Pole Position Cup is awarded to the driver who takes the most pole positions that season. Russell had previously won the Jack Cavill Pole Position Cup during his title-winning campaign in BRDC Formula 4 in 2014.[178]
Personal life
Since 2020, Russell has been dating Carmen Montero Mundt, a former business student at the University of Westminster. The couple live together in Monaco. The two were introduced by mutual friends over "dinner and drinks" in London.[179][180]
Russell has been known to be vocal about mental health issues and has often spoken about his own experiences seeing a psychologist to improve his on-track performance and off-track wellbeing.[181]
‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed. † Did not finish but was classified, as he completed more than 90% of the race distance.
* Season still in progress.
^"BRDC announces 2015 SuperStars". brdc.co.uk. British Racing Drivers' Club. 23 February 2015. Archived from the original on 16 October 2018. Retrieved 8 April 2015. I am particularly delighted to announce five new SuperStars this year and welcome our youngest ever recruit George Russell to the programme...
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