Everything You Need to Know About George Russell

Early Years

George started karting at the age of seven in 2005 and quickly rose through the ranks of the British karting scene.

In 2012, he moved into the international karting ladder and claimed his biggest title yet in the KF3 class of the FIA European Karting Championship.

He moved into single-seaters for the first time in 2014, competing in the BRDC Formula 4 Championship.

A maiden win was claimed at the first round at Silverstone, and George would record four more victories on route to winning the title.

He was awarded the Silverstone Autosport BRDC Award – honouring young British racing drivers – at the end of the year.

For the next two seasons, George competed in FIA F3 Euroseries, picking up three wins and 13 podiums with Carlin and Hitech GP, respectively.

The Mercedes Family

George’s first meeting with Toto came a couple of years before he joined our junior programme, but it proved to be a pivotal encounter in George’s career.

Armed with nothing but a computer and a PowerPoint presentation, George laid out exactly why he would be a good fit for our team junior programme.

At the end of 2016, while in the bath and on the brink of signing for BMW in the DTM, George got the call from Driver Development Advisor Gwen Lagrue inviting him to be part of the Mercedes F1 junior programme.

The next two seasons would yield two titles at the first time of asking – in 2017 at GP3 level, and then 2018 in Formula 2.

The F2 field George defeated that year included Lando Norris and Alex Albon.

His first taste of an F1 car came at an in-season test in 2017 with our team at the Hungaroring.

At Interlagos at Abu Dhabi in 2017, he undertook his first two rookie FP1 sessions over the Grand Prix weekend with Force India.

Formula 1 Race Debut

George signed for Williams in 2019 and made his first F1 Grand Prix start in Melbourne at the beginning of that season.

He chose the race number 63 because it was the number his brother used to compete with in karting.

He finished the season without a scoring a point but put on a series of fine Saturday performances to reach Q2 on three consecutive occasions in Hungary, Belgium, and Italy. His best GP finish came at the German Grand Prix with P11.

He remained with Williams for 2020 but stood in for Lewis Hamilton with our team at the Sakhir Grand Prix, becoming the 12^th different driver to represent the Silver Arrows in F1.

After qualifying P2 and taking the lead off the line, he scored his first points finish in P9.

His first Q3 appearance for Williams came at the 2021 Styrian Grand Prix, and his first points finish with the Grove outfit came at the Hungarian Grand Prix with a P8 finish.

At the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix, he collected his first F1 podium at the shortened Grand Prix after qualifying P2 in treacherous conditions at Spa-Francorchamps.

Three-Pointed Star

For 2022, and the start of a new era of F1 car, George moved to Brackley to partner seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.

He scored his first podium for the team with a P3 at the Australian Grand Prix and would go on to finish the first nine races inside the top five. At the French Grand Prix in July, he shared the podium with Lewis for the first time as team-mates.

In Hungary, he scored his first F1 pole position behind the wheel of W13.

His maiden F1 victory came at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, where he had also won the Sprint race the day before. He became the sixth driver to win a race for Mercedes in F1, and the first to have come through the team’s junior programme.

In total, he was the 113^th different driver to stand on the top step of the podium.

He ended 2022 with eight podiums and 275 points, enough for a P4 finish in the final standings.

A year later, he helped the team claim P2 in the 2023 Constructors’ standings by finishing P3 at the season finale in Abu Dhabi. A few races earlier in Austin, he made his 100^th Grand Prix start.

Two further wins would follow in 2024, at the Red Bull Ring in Austria and in Las Vegas. In addition, George recorded podiums in Baku and Canada, and took pole position in Montreal, Silverstone, Las Vegas, and Qatar.

For his P1 lap in Canada, he set an identical time to Max Verstappen in P2, the first time this had occurred in qualifying for a Grand Prix since the 1997 European GP at Jerez.

He was joined on Lauda Drive by fellow junior academy graduate Kimi Antonelli for 2025.

He added winning trophies to his mantelpiece at the Canadian and Singapore Grands Prix, having taken pole at both races. In Montreal, he recorded his first hat-trick in the sport after also setting the fastest lap of the race.

Off Track

George is a director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA) – the trade union of F1 drivers, a position he has held since 2021.

His parents are called Steve and Alison, and he is the youngest of three siblings.

He has been in a relationship with girlfriend Carmen Montero Mundt since 2020