As of the2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix, Russell has achieved five race wins, seven pole positions, 11 fastest laps, and 24 podiums in Formula One. Russell is contracted to remain at Mercedes until at least the end of the 2026 season.[2]
Early life
George Russell was born inKing's Lynn,Norfolk,[3] to father Steve and mother Alison.[4] His father managed a business selling seeds andpulses,[3] which he sold in 2012 to fund his son's junior racing career.[5][6] Russell is the youngest of three siblings, including sister Cara and brother Benjy.[7] He grew up inTydd St Giles/Wisbech andCastle Rising.[8]
Russell took up karting at the age of 7, following his brother Benjy, a competitive karter who won the 2007Super 1 National Kart Championship in the Rotax Max category.[9] Russell picked up his number 63 from the kart his brother rented at the time.[10][8] Growing up, his father would intentionally overstate his lap times to motivate him to drive faster.[11]
Russell attendedWisbech Grammar School, but shifted to homeschooling so that he could devote more time to his racing career.[12][13] At 18, he moved toMilton Keynes to be closer to his junior racing team.[14][15]
Junior racing career
Karting (2006–2013)
Russell begankarting in 2006 and progressed to the cadet class by 2009, becomingMSA 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 had a more difficult season in Formula Renault 2.0 Alps. Although he was initially supposed to race forPrema,Lance Stroll's father (Prema's part-owner and main funder) vetoed Russell from the team,[28][29] even though Stroll was racing inItalian F4 and not Formula Renault. Russell found a landing spot with Koiranen,[23] which dominated the season, scoring 423 points to Prema's 61. However, Russell was outshone by his Koiranen teammateNyck de Vries (three years his elder), who won nine out of twelve races.[30] Looking back, Russell said thatTech 1 Racing (his other option to replace Prema) would have been a better fit,[28] but strongly praised de Vries, remarking that he "was always one of the very best,"[31] and that especially "in go-karting, he was the man to beat."[32]
Russell's season ended on a high note after talent scout Gwen Lagrue (who later recruited him to Mercedes) arranged for him to join Tech 1 for the final round of theEurocup Formula Renault 2.0 season atJerez.[33] Eurocup was a higher level of competition than Alps.[34][28] Nonetheless, Russell won the final race of the Eurocup season, holding off a hard-charging de Vries and finishing 23.057 seconds ahead of his Tech 1 teammateAnthoine Hubert.[35]
At the end of the season, Russell won theAutosport BRDC Award after successfully testingFormula Two,DTM, and GT3 cars.[36] At seventeen, he was the youngest-ever winner of the award; the BRDC lowered the entry age to accommodate him.[28][36] He was also selected for the BRDC's SuperStars junior driver mentorship programme, where he was once again the youngest-ever selection.[37]
Although Russell was expected to spend 2015 competing full-time in Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, his BRDC Award win prompted him to skip directly to EuropeanFormula Three,[38] where he spent the next two years.
In 2015, Russell drove forCarlin, aVolkswagen affiliate.[39][16] He finished sixth,[40] winning one race[41] and collecting three podiums;PaddockScout opined that his qualifying pace was "his one obvious weak-spot,"[42] and that he primarily stood out for his race pace and ability to cleanly overtake other drivers.[17] He was second in the Rookies' Championship, behind Charles Leclerc,[43] although fellow rookieLance Stroll finished above him in the overall classification (the Rookies' Championship re-scores each race to remove non-rookies). He also finished second at the2015 Masters of Formula 3 exhibition race, behindAntonio Giovinazzi.[44]
2016: Third in Europe with Hitech
In2016, Russell switched toHitech GP, a new Mercedes affiliate which was competing in its first full European Formula Three season.[16] That year, Prema allegedly received special engines from Mercedes[45] and technical support (including a suspension upgrade) fromWilliams.[46] Stroll (whose family was funding Prema[47]) cruised to the title, with Russell finishing third, behind Prema drivers Stroll andMaximilian Günther.[48] Nonetheless, Mercedes was impressed by Russell's performances and signed him to its driver academy at the end of the season.[49] After making it to Formula One, Russell questioned the fairness of the 2016 competition, stating that it was "almost laughable to see ... how wrong that championship was."[49]
Mercedes Junior Team
I had other F1 teams speak to me before Mercedes ... and it felt like they didn't even care. Because in this time, junior programs were not a thing. I think McLaren had one driver, Mercedes had one driver, Ferrari had ... maybeJules Bianchi, but he was already in Formula One. And Red Bull had, of course, maybe five or six. ... So, I just thought, you know, "I need to do something that ... will be memorable."
Russell recalling his Mercedes PowerPoint presentation[50]
As Russell advanced through the junior pyramid, the costs of racing grew significantly. He estimated that it cost "£50K a year if you want to compete, £200K if you want to win."[51] Steve Russell spent roughly £1.5m to fund his son's junior career.[52] When Russell was sixteen, his father explained that he could not keep on funding him and that Russell needed to find a junior driver programme.[51][11]
Russell applied for a spot on theMercedes Junior Team. Unlike modern Formula One driver academies,Mercedes signed only one driver at a time, although it funded additional drivers on a short-term basis.[11] To sway Mercedes leadership, Russell prepared aMicrosoft PowerPoint presentation explaining why the team should sign him.[53]
To audition Russell for a full-time academy spot, Mercedes bossToto Wolff offered to fund Russell's 2015 European Formula Three season. However, Mercedes's top F3 affiliate was Prema, from which Russell had already been vetoed. Russell choseVolkswagen, which did not have a Formula One team at the time.[16] At season's end,BMW offered him aDTM drive, but Mercedes persuaded him to bet on himself, offering him funding for a second F3 season[16][33] and making him the senior team's simulator driver.[54] Russell switched to a Mercedes-powered F3 team for 2016.[16]
In early 2017, Russell officially joined the Mercedes Junior Team.[55] Wolff "set hard targets" for Russell, asking him to win the GP3 and Formula 2 titles before progressing to Formula One.[56]
GP3 Series (2017)
Russell racing at the 2017 Spa-Francorchamps GP3 round
With financial help from Mercedes, Russell secured a drive withART Grand Prix for the2017 season.[57] ART was GP3's dominant team, having won six of the last seven team titles. In 2017, it swept the top four places in the standings.[58]
Russell won the title as a rookie,[59] scoring four wins and finishing 79 points ahead of the second-placedJack Aitken.[60][61] He locked up the title with two races to go.[59] Notable races included a dominant performance atSpa-Francorchamps (a win, a second place, two poles, and two fastest laps)[62] and a close three-way battle atMonza.[63]
ART promoted Russell to its Formula Two team for the2018 season.[64] In addition, Mercedes promoted Russell to first-team reserve driver, sharing duties withPascal Wehrlein.[65] The 2018 F2 grid was "possibly the strongest field of the last decade",[66] and featured several future F1 racers, includingLando Norris, Alex Albon,Nyck de Vries, andNicholas Latifi.[67]
ART did not carry over its lopsided dominance from the prior year's F3 season, as Norris's Carlin took the teams' championship.[68] Although Formula Two is aspec series and every engine is built by the same company,[69] Russell, Albon, and Norris agreed that in practice, teams had engines of varying quality. Albon and Norris said that Russell had the best engine that year, while Russell and Albon said that Norris's engine was very competitive early in the season.[70] After ten races, Norris led the standings.[71] Russell heated up at midseason, finishing either first or second in five out of six races. He qualified in the top four at all but one race (where he had engine trouble).[72] He won the title, finishing 68 points ahead of the second-placed Norris.[72][67]
With his title, Russell became the fifth rookie champion of the GP2/F2 category (previously achieved byNico Rosberg,Lewis Hamilton,Nico Hülkenberg, andCharles 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 andGabriel Bortoleto subsequently matched each of these feats.[73]
Formula One career
In October 2015, Russell drove a Formula One car for the first time, when he tested theMcLaren MP4-26 atSilverstone as a prize for winning the 2014Autosport BRDC Award.[74] After he joined theMercedes Junior Team, Mercedes gave him more testing opportunities. He drove a Mercedes for the first time in April 2017, testing the 2015Mercedes W06 atPortimão.[75] He then conducted formal test drives for Mercedes (2017 and 2018)[75][76] andForce India-Mercedes (2018).[77]
Russell made his Grand Prix weekend debut at the end of the 2017 season, driving for Force India during free practice at theBrazilian andAbu Dhabi Grands Prix.[78] Mercedes promoted him to first-team reserve driver in 2018.[79]
Williams (2019–2021)
In October 2018, Mercedes arranged for Russell to make his Formula One debut with engine customerWilliams-Mercedes.[80] Russell had previously applied for a Williams drive after winning the 2017 GP3 title, but Williams'sPaddy Lowe was unmoved by his new PowerPoint presentation and Russell went to Formula 2.[81] Russell signed a three-year contract with Williams[82] but remained a Mercedes test driver.[83][84] He was partnered byRobert Kubica for the2019 season[85] andNicholas Latifi in2020 and2021.[86] His first appearance for Williams was at the 2018 post-season test atYas Marina Circuit, driving theFW41.[87]
Russell's years at Williams were difficult. Mercedes had hoped that Williams would field a competitive car; as Russell later noted, Williams had finished no worse than fifth in the constructors' standings from2015 to2017.[82] However, when Russell joined Williams, the team was well behind the rest of the field[88] and did not produce a car that could reliably compete for points until 2021, Russell's final year with the team. The team was so strapped for cash that it considered replacing Russell withKevin Magnussen after the 2020 season if Magnussen could find enough sponsor money to keep the team afloat.[89]
Due to Russell's extended run at Williams, he is third on the list ofmost race starts in a career before scoring points, with 37. However, the Formula One team principals viewed his performances more favorably. In 2020, a year where Russell scored only three points and finished 18th in the standings,[90] the team principals ranked him that year's sixth-best driver.[91] In addition, Russell led Williams back to respectability in 2021, scoring 16 points and recording a rare podium for Williams.[92]
In 2019, Williams struggled for form. At Russell's Formula One race debut, theAustralian Grand Prix, Russell qualified 19th and finished 16th.[93] He acknowledged that his experience was difficult, remarking that the car was "four seconds off the pace" and that he was lapped multiple times.[94] Williams's slow pace continued into the season, and 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, theMonaco Grand Prix. He also outqualified Kubica at all twenty-one races.[95]
Russell's best placement was 11th at the rain-affectedGerman Grand Prix, where Williams rolled out an upgrade,[96] six cars retired without classifying,[97] and another two cars received time penalties after the race.[98] He came close to finishing 10th, but unsuccessfully asked to pit for slick tyres during a safety car and ran wide on turn two several laps later,[99] allowing Kubica to overtake him and score the team's only point that year.[98] In 2023, Russell remarked that it was the most disappointing moment of his career.[100] Russell also finished 12th at theBrazilian Grand Prix after a late safety car allowed him to unlap himself, missing out on points by 1.668 seconds.[101] He finished 20th in the Drivers' Championship, scoring no points to Kubica's one.[102] Russell later remarked that as a competitor, it was hard for him to watch fellow rookiesAlex Albon andLando Norris competing for points and podiums after beating them the year before in F2.[94]
Williams was more competitive on track in 2020, but it did not show up in the standings, as Williams did not score any points all year.[103] However, Russell came close to scoring on several occasions, such as theStyrian Grand Prix (starting 11th but falling to 16th after running into the gravel during a re-start lap)[104][105] theBritish Grand Prix (finishing 12th), theTuscan Grand Prix (reaching 9th at one point before dropping back to 11th),[106] and theEmilia Romagna Grand Prix (crashing out from 10th place under safety car conditions).[107]
Russell scored his first points at theSakhir Grand Prix, following a surprise promotion to the Mercedes senior team whenLewis Hamilton tested positive forCOVID-19.[108] His performance at Sakhir was widely acclaimed by both Mercedes and the media.[109][110] He narrowly missed out on pole position,[111] overtook teammateValtteri Bottas at the first corner, and led the majority of the race. However, he was forced to pit twice in-a-row when the Mercedes pit crew accidentally fitted Bottas's front tyres on his car, following a radio failure.[112][113] He overtook Bottas a second time, recovered to second place, and was closing in on race leaderSergio Pérez, when a puncture forced him to pit again with ten laps to go.[114] He finished ninth, picking up two points for the finish and one point for the fastest lap.[115][116] He later remarked that while "I was the same driver [in Sakhir] as I had been before ... I was exactly the same driver a week later [driving for Williams at the season-endingAbu Dhabi Grand Prix[117]] when I was out in Q1."[118] In Abu Dhabi, he donned a special helmet to honor the Williams family, who had sold the team in October.[119][120] He finished 18th in the Drivers' Championship, scoring three points, all for Mercedes.[90]
2021: Maiden podium
Following Russell's strong performances in 2020, Mercedes looked into finding him a new team for the2021 season, but Williams declined to release him from his contract.[82] In addition, the media speculated that he would replaceValtteri Bottas at Mercedes in 2022 once their respective contracts expired. The two aspirants clashed at the 2021Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, when 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.[121] 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".[122] However, Russell later retracted his claims and apologised to Bottas and Williams.[123] Mercedes bossToto 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.[124] Both drivers sought to downplay the dispute, at least publicly, after Bottas rejoined Mercedes in2025.[125][126]
Russell at the2021 Austrian Grand Prix. He finished 11th, but received praise from Fernando Alonso for his performance.
Despite his DNF at Imola, Russell helped Williams to its best season in several years. He came close to scoring points at a number of races, including theAzerbaijan Grand Prix (gearbox failure following a restart in 15th place);[127] theFrench Grand Prix (rising from 19th to 12th without help from driver retirements);[128][129] theStyrian Grand Prix (hydraulic failure after qualifying in 10th);[130][131] and theBritish Grand Prix (12th place). At theAustrian Grand Prix, Russell qualified in 8th place, Williams's highest grid position since 2017.[132][133] He was still in 10th near the end of the race, but after a fourteen-lap defensive battle,Fernando Alonso passed him with three laps to go.[134][135] After the race, Alonso consoled Russell with a hug.[135] 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."[136]
Russell scored his first points for Williams two races later at theHungarian Grand Prix, moving from 17th on the grid to 8th.[137] Following the race, Mercedes agreed to promote Russell to the senior team for the 2022 season.[138] In the very next race, Russell collected his maiden podium at theBelgian Grand Prix under unusual circumstances. He qualified in second after a rain-affected Saturday, the first front-row start for Williams since the2017 Italian Grand Prix.[139] The downpour continued into race day, so the race director ran the race for two laps under safety car conditions before calling it off, handing Russell his first Formula One podium finish.[140] It was Williams' only podium finish between the2017 and2025 Azerbaijan Grands Prix.[141] Russell also scored points at theItalian Grand Prix (9th) and theRussian Grand Prix (10th, after qualifying in 3rd).[142] He placed 15th in the Drivers' Championship, scoring 16 points to Latifi's 7.[92]
Russell joined Mercedes in2022.[143] From 2022 to 2024, he was paired with seven-time World Drivers' ChampionLewis Hamilton.[144] The team placed third in 2022, second in 2023, and fourth in 2024.[144] Hamilton left at the end of the 2024 season and was succeeded byJunior Team memberKimi Antonelli.[145]
2022–2023: Maiden win and pole position
The timing of Russell's move to Mercedes was unfortunate, as it coincided with a regulations change that ended Mercedes's dominance of the sport.[146] Mercedes' new aerodynamics concept performed very well in simulations but was difficult to drive in real life.[147] The team scored one victory in two years.[148]
Russell and Hamilton spent the first nine races of the 2022 season testing experimental parts for the Mercedes car.[149] Although the drivers swapped testing duties every race,[150] Russell accumulated a 34-point lead over Hamilton after round nine,[151] which team bossToto Wolff attributed to Hamilton's experiments backfiring.[152] After round nine, Russell and Hamilton finished out the season essentially level on points, with Russell scoring one more point than his teammate.[153] Despite the unfortunate season, Russell checked off several career firsts in 2022, including his first podium in a full-length race atMelbourne;[154] his first pole position atHungary;[155] and his first Grand Prix and sprint race victories atInterlagos.[156][157] He finished fourth in the Drivers' Championship, outscoring teammate Hamilton by 35 points.[158][153]
2023 was another difficult year for Mercedes and for Russell in particular. After some promising performances at the start of the season (leading theAustralian Grand Prix until an untimely red flag[159] and scoring a podium atBarcelona[160]), Russell's results declined in the second half of the season for a variety of reasons, including a record seven pit stops in one race (Zandvoort),[161] an accidental last-lap crash (Singapore),[162] an over-aggressive strategy call (Suzuka),[163] and Hamilton colliding into him after a front-row start (Lusail).[164]
Russell salvaged a measure of pride with a third-place finish at theAbu Dhabi Grand Prix, which clinched second place in the Constructors' Championship for Mercedes. He finished eighth in the Drivers' Championship, the lowest for a Mercedes driver since2012, and 59 points behind Hamilton. After the Abu Dhabi race, Russell 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.[165] Although he called his own season "a complete disaster",[163] Mercedes gave him a two-year contract extension.[166]
For the2024 season, Mercedes fundamentally changed its design concept.[167] The newMercedes W15 was fast but inconsistent, hard on tyres, and difficult to set up properly.[168] Although the team was not competitive until midseason, Russell commented that the staff was "making progress" behind the scenes.[169] At round three, theAustralian Grand Prix, Russell crashed heavily while trying to overtake Fernando Alonso (who received a 20-second penalty for brake-checking Russell) for sixth place on the penultimate lap.[170] The accident left him immobile and defenceless behind a 250 km/h blind turn for ten seconds before the race director deployed the virtual safety car. However, he emerged unscathed and met with Alonso to smooth things over. Following the race, he called for automated safety cars to prevent similar incidents.[171]
At midseason, Mercedes scored podium finishes in six consecutive races. Russell reeled off some of his best results in years, including a pole and podium inMontreal,[172][173] his second career race victory atSpielberg (albeit after the first two drivers collided in front of him),[174][175] a pole atSilverstone (followed by a mechanical retirement),[176] and the first Formula One race win (atSpa) lost to a post-race disqualification since1994,[177][178] for which the team took responsibility.[179] However, the media opined that he could have won the Canadian Grand Prix.[180]
The team's form became more inconsistent as the year went on, but Russell challenged for wins at several races. At theSão Paulo Grand Prix, Russell was leading the race until Mercedes ordered him to pit for new tyres right before a red-flag gave his competitors a free tyre change.[181][182] Russell dominated theLas Vegas Grand Prix, qualifying on pole and leading 49 of 50 laps to take his third career victory.[183] Russell again qualified on pole inQatar afterMax Verstappen was handed a grid penalty for driving unnecessarily slowly ahead of Russell, who was on an out-lap.[184] Verstappen condemned Russell's appeals to the stewards for his penalty, stating he "lost all respect" for him,[185] and warned Russell that he would overtake him at any cost[186]—Russell claimed he said he would 'put him in the wall', which Verstappen denied.[187][188] Verstappen overtook him into turn one, with Russell finishing fourth after two safety car periods.[189]
Russell finished sixth in the Drivers' Championship, 22 points ahead of Hamilton.[190] The team fell from second place to fourth in the Constructors' Championship, but scored four wins,[191] quadrupling its total from the prior two seasons.[144]
During the three years of the Russell-Hamilton partnership, the Mercedes drivers were evenly matched on track.[192] Russell outscored Hamilton in two out of three seasons, recorded three wins to Hamilton's two, and outqualified Hamilton 39–29,[193] while Hamilton scored 20 podiums to Russell's 14[194] and beat Russell on total points (697–695) after overtaking Russell on the final lap of hisfinal race with Mercedes.[195] After the 2024 season ended, Russell said that he "learned so much from [] Lewis as a driver and a person,"[195] and wrote on his personal website that Hamilton "is not only the greatest driver of all time," but also "the type of person that every racing driver should aspire to be."[196]
In2025, Russell faced acontract year.[1] He also received a new teammate, eighteen-year-old academy driverKimi Antonelli, who was hyped as "F1's next big thing."[197] Defending World Constructors' ChampionsMcLaren were heavily favoured to claim both titles, and dominated the constructors' race with seven 1–2 finishes and 12 wins in the first 18 races.[198] At the start of the season, Russell opined that theMCL39 was fast enough to win every Grand Prix,[199] which McLaren dismissed as hyperbolic.[200]
Russell opened the season with four podiums in six races atAlbert Park,Shanghai,Sakhir, andMiami, predominantly trailing one or both McLarens.[201][202][203][204] In Australia, he raced conservatively in intermittently rainy conditions and inherited third place whenOscar Piastri went off track.[205][206][207] At Shanghai, Russell qualified second for the main race, splitting the two McLarens; strong teamwork from McLaren allowedLando Norris to pass him at turn one,[208] and Russell finished third.[202] After an uneventful fifth-place finish atSuzuka with almost no overtaking within the top 10,[209][210] Russell bounced back in Bahrain: he fended off Norris in the closing laps to finish second—overcoming faulty brakes and electronics[211]—and received widespread praise from the racing press for his adaptive performance.[a] Struggling with tyre overheating, Mercedes laboured to fifth- and sixth-place finishes inJeddah.[217] At Miami, Russell was out-qualified by Antonelli for the first time,[218] before an unconventional decision to start the Grand Prix on hard tyres was rewarded with a near-freepit stop undervirtual safety car conditions, helping him finish third.[219]
Mercedes began testing major upgrades during the Imola-Monaco-Barcelona tripleheader,[220] but the team generally lacked the pace to compete for wins. TheMercedes W16's new suspension was particularly enigmatic: introduced at Imola, it was withdrawn after one middling race. The team reintroduced it at Montreal three rounds later,[221] and Russell controlled the race from start to finish, picking up his maiden Formula Onehat-trick (taking pole, winning, and setting the fastest lap).[222][223] However, the improvement quickly faded, and atSpa-Francorchamps, Russell noted that the temperamental W16 was struggling even in relatively favorable conditions.[224] Mercedes reverted to the older suspension atHungary one round later,[225] and Russell scored a podium after hunting downCharles Leclerc, whose car was dramatically fading.[226] Aside from those two podiums, Russell's next-best finish was a chaotic fourth-place atBarcelona where he qualified fourth, lost two places at the start, undercutLewis Hamilton, passed fourth-placedMax Verstappen in the closing laps after a safety car restart, and was hit by Verstappen on track near the end of the race, for which the Dutchman expressed regret.[227][b]
Following the summer break, Russell finished fifth atMonza.[232] He then scored his seventh podium of the season atBaku finishing second, having struggled with a respiratory illness all weekend.[233] The next round atSingapore, Russell surprised commentators by taking pole by 0.182 seconds on a track where Mercedes was not expected to be competitive.[234][235][236] After Verstappen (who started second) unsuccessfully gambled on used soft tyres at the start, Russell got out to a large lead and cruised to victory.[234] Following his win, Mercedes announced that Russell had signed a contract extension.[237] Verstappen won the next race atAustin in similar fashion, prompting Russell to comment that because overtaking was so rare in 2025 and the tyres did not incentivise creative strategy, the sport had become "a race to Turn 1."[238] InMexico City, Russell finished in seventh after losing three positions during the opening laps, leading to him commenting that track-limit violations that were unpunished had turned the race into "lawnmower racing".[239] He finished in fourth place inSão Paulo, after being passed by Verstappen in the final laps while struggling with brake temperatures.[240] Russell scored his career-best ninth podium of the season inLas Vegas, finishing second after gaining two positions in the opening lap but later suffering steering and tyre concerns, leading to him being re-passed by Norris who was eventually disqualified for plank wear.[241][242]
2026
Mercedes retained Russell and Antonelli for2026. The team did not announce specific details of Russell's new contract, butThe Independent reported that he received a salary increase to £30m/year, which would make him the third-highest-paid driver in Formula One after Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.[237] Russell's contract is guaranteed for 2026 and vests for 2027 if Russell meets certain undisclosed performance benchmarks.[243]
Driver profile
Driving style
According to Williams's Dave Robson, Russell is an instinctive driver who can adapt to a variety of cars.[244] He has specifically been noted for controlling cars that are unstable when entering corners.[245] Compared to his former teammateLewis Hamilton, Russell brakes earlier, turns later, and "carries more speed through the corner and exiting it."[246] During the 2024 season, the racing press suggested that Russell's style might be a better fit for the present generation ofground effect cars than Hamilton's,[246][247] withMark Hughes adding that Mercedes's successful midseason upgrades accentuated this F1-wide trend.[247]
In his junior and early career, Russell's smooth driving style was compared to that ofJenson Button.[48] However, Robson (who worked with both Russell and Button at Williams and McLaren, respectively) suggested that Russell sought to strike a balance between Button and Lewis Hamilton.[244] Since joining Mercedes, Russell adapted his driving to take more aggressive and direct V-shaped approaches into corners, drawing comparisons toMika Häkkinen,[248][249] althoughJolyon Palmer argued that compared to Russell, Hamilton's V-shapes are more distinct.[250] Palmer also noted that Russell takes particularly wide exits out of corners to generate as much speed as possible, and said that Russell's precise car control allows him to survive risky turns.[250]
Qualifying
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,[251] most notablySpa 2021 (second) andSochi 2021 (third).[252][253] He outqualified teammatesRobert Kubica andNicholas Latifi 57 out of 59 times.[254] Russell acquired the nickname "Mr. Saturday" for his Williams qualifying feats,[255][256][134] although he has downplayed the nickname, explaining that the goal is to win on Sunday.[257]
At Mercedes, Russell became the only teammate inLewis Hamilton's career (Hamilton being Formula One'sall-time leader in pole positions) to outqualify him head-to-head during their time as teammates (39–29).[258] Although Hamilton outqualified Russell 13–9 in their first season together, Russell reached parity in 2023 and beat Hamilton 19–5 in 2024,[258] becoming one of only two teammates (the other being 2016 championNico Rosberg) to outqualify him in a single season.[259]
Racecraft
According toKarun Chandhok, Russell "is generally one of the cleanest racers" in F1.[260] Several drivers have noted Russell's clean racing on track, including teammateLewis Hamilton[261] andSebastian Vettel.[262] In addition, at the2022 British Grand Prix, Russell jumped out of his car to check onZhou Guanyu following a major first-lap crash, even though it triggered his own retirement from the race.[263] (The crash occurred afterPierre Gasly and Russell collided at the start of the race, bumping Russell into Zhou.[264]) However, after Russell questionedCharles Leclerc's defensive tactics during the2023 British Grand Prix, Ferrari team principalFrédéric Vasseur noted that Russell had used similar tactics to defend his position in prior races, explaining that "that's life" in Formula One.[265]
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 [teammate Robert] Kubica 11 times despite his qualifying superiority."[266] 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."[266] During Russell's years at Williams,Fernando Alonso said that Russell had great natural speed and "surprises me every weekend".[134] Following Russell's second-place finish at the2025 Bahrain Grand Prix,Peter Windsor called Russell's drive "one of the best I've seen in a long, long time", praising his tyre management (Russell nursed a set of used soft tyres for over twenty laps), on-the-fly adjustments to various mechanical issues, and defensive positioning against third-placedLando Norris, who had the faster car and the tyre advantage at the end of the race.[267]
Russell's tyre management has alternately been praised and criticised. He was praised for his tyre management at Williams.[266] Upon joining Mercedes, he overextended his tyres on several occasions, contributing to some disappointing results.[268] His tyre management received renewed praise during the 2024 season, following strong performances atSpa,[269]Austin,[270] andMonaco.[271]
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 the2024 Canadian Grand Prix, whereMotor Sport thought he botched Mercedes's first real chance at a win since 2022.[180] 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."[272] He picked up two victories later that season. At the three-quarter mark of the2025 season,The Daily Telegraph noted that Russell had submitted a "largely error-free" campaign.[273]
Since 2021, Russell has served as a director of theGrand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA), the Formula One drivers' trade union.[276] His primary role at the GPDA is to relay the paddock's concerns about safety, racing quality, and the junior driver pipeline to the GPDA's full-time personnel.[277]
TheGB4 Championship awards the George Russell Pole Position Cup to the driver who takes the most pole positions in a given season.[278]
Like many Formula One drivers, Russell has participated in theFormula 1: Drive to Survive television show. The show's coverage of Russell has primarily focused on his efforts to join and stay at Mercedes. Thefourth season (2022) traces his efforts to obtain the second Mercedes seat for 2022, whenValtteri Bottas's contract expired, and includes a scene in whichToto Wolff informs Russell of his promotion, whichMotor Sport thought was staged for the cameras.[279] Theseventh season (2025) details Russell's efforts to earn a leadership role at Mercedes afterLewis Hamilton announced his departure for Ferrari, and suggested that Russell secured his place in Mercedes by winning the2024 Belgian Grand Prix, when in reality, he was disqualified from that race. Russell was also a featured narrator in the episode about the2024 Singapore Grand Prix.[280] In 2024, Russell said that while he understands some "people are upset that everything is dramatized" in the show, he accepts the show's style as long as it draws new fans into the sport.[281]
Personal life
Since 2020, Russell has been dating Carmen Montero Mundt, a former business student at theUniversity of Westminster.[255] The couple live together inMonaco. The two were introduced by mutual friends over "dinner and drinks" inLondon.[282][283] He moved to Monaco in 2022.[7]
Within Formula One, Russell is particularly close friends withAlex Albon,[284][285] as well asLando Norris andCharles Leclerc, with whom he and Albon streamed racing games onTwitch during theCOVID-19 pandemic.[286] Russell said that Albon helped him get into a top karting team,[16] and Albon said that Russell campaigned for Williams to give him Russell's open seat after Russell left for Mercedes.[287][288] He is also friends withFernando Alonso, who has called him a "future world champ".[134][289]
‡ 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.
^After tussling with Russell and Charles Leclerc, Verstappen was asked to give back fourth place to Russell, which proved to be a strategy error on Red Bull's part. An infuriated Verstappen slowed down before bumping wheels with Russell (he ultimately gave up the place and received a ten-second penalty). Verstappen said that his move was "not right and shouldn't have happened", but claimed it was a "misjudgment";[228] several commentators thought it was intentional.[229][230][231]
^"BRDC announces 2015 SuperStars".brdc.co.uk.British Racing Drivers' Club. 23 February 2015.Archived from the original on 16 October 2018. Retrieved8 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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