Introduction
On the back of (fairly) recent news that the young Briton dubbed Mr Saturday was moving to the big leagues, I thought it only appropriate to talk you through his early career and journey to Mercedes. All struggles and triumphs included leading up to the 2022 promotion.
George William Russell was born on February 15th, 1998 in Kings Lynn, Norfolk to his Mother Allison and his Father Steve. As of the publishing of this article, that makes him 23, the youngest of 3 Russell siblings.
Early Days...
George in his youth always had a keen interest in everything cars and go-karts, as his older brother Benji was competing at the time. George would go on to join him in 2006, aged 7. It would take about 3 years for George to become comfortable enough in his racing skin to put his name in lights, after winning the MSA British Cadet Championship and the British Open Championship collectively in 2009.
The following year he advanced to the Rotax Mini Max category where he became Super One British champion, Formula Kart Stars British Champion and Kartmasters British Grand Prix champion in a dominant season. Busy guy!
In 2011, George graduated to the Premier Junior Karting class (KF3), winning the SKUSA Supernationals title and went on to become the CIK-FIA European Junior Champion in 2012 and 2013 consecutively, rounding out his illustrious karting CV.
Between the track and home, George also attended the Wisbech grammar school in Cambridgeshire and continued to live in the area until the age of 18, when he moved away in order to pursue his career further.
Moving On Up...
Beginning his single-seater career in 2014, George made his debut in the BRDC Formula 4 championship with defending championship team Lanan racing. During which, he claimed 3 pole positions, 4 fastest laps and 11 podiums after a total of only 24 races.
By the season finale at Snetterton, he was tied in a 4-way battle for the title with teammate Arjun Maini and rival team HHC Motorsports drivers, Sennan Fielding and Raoul Hyman. After starting from pole position, he went on to claim his fifth win of the season, clinching the title in his rookie year, with 483 points, just three more than the runner up!
As a prize for winning the championship, George was gifted the opportunity to test a GP3 car with Arden Motorsport at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.
2014 also saw Russell racing in the Formula Renault 2.0 Alps championship - originally signing to Prema Powerteam, before a last-minute switch to Koiranen GP. He finished fourth in the championship, having a single podium finish in Austria after 14 races with the team. He also contested two rounds of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 championship, taking part in the Moscow round with Koiranen GP before switching to Tech 1 Racing for the final round of the season at Jerez as a guest entrant. Starting again from pole, he went on to win the final race of that season.
In December of that year, he became the youngest-ever winner of the prestigious McLaren Autosport BRDC Award, competing against the likes of Alexander Albon, Ben Barnicoat, Sennan Fielding, Seb Morris, and Harrison Scott. Earning from the award, a £100,000 cash prize, British Racing Drivers' Club membership and a Formula One test with McLaren.
After just one year in Formula 4, and having already won the series championship, he switched to the FIA Formula 3 European Championship for the next two seasons (2015 &16).
The Destination is in Sight...
In 2015, racing in the FIA European Formula 3 Championship George went on to compete with Carlin, taking his first race victory in the opening round at his home track, Silverstone. Doing so also meant he finished ahead of fellow debutant Charles Leclerc and Antonio Giovinazzi. Taking a further 2 podiums in Spa-Francorchamps and the Norisring meant he finished sixth in the championship that year, also taking runner-up to Leclerc in the rookie championship.
George switched to Mercedes powered Hitech GP for the 2016 season. Making an immediate and lasting impact, he took pole position for his first appearance at the iconic Guia Circuit, Macau, attracting the attention of the reigning F1 world championship team and engine supplier, Mercedes. That season, he would go on to finish in 3rd position, having two victories and ten podium appearances to his name.
Reuniting with his Formula 4 post-season test team ART Grand Prix, George then signed for the team in GP3 for the 2017 season. January of that year, it was also confirmed he would begin his career as a Mercedes junior, following in the tyre tracks of names like Pascal Wehrlein and Esteban Ocon.
Having made a solid start to the season at the Circuit de Catalunya, he rounded out the opening weekend with 4th and 5th position finishes. At the Red Bull Ring the following round, he took his maiden pole position and victory in the GP3 Series. In Silverstone, Russell then scored back to back pole positions before converting this into another victory in the first race of the weekend and taking 4th position in the second.
Stretching his championship lead from the previous races, a dominant performance at Spa-Francorchamps saw Russell take a victory and 2nd position in the two races, alongside Pole Position and Fastest Lap for both as well.
Next up was Monza, in which only one race took place due to uncooperative weather conditions resulting in the cancellation of Saturday's race. Russell ended the weekend by winning an intense battle for position between his ART Grand Prix teammates Jack Aitken and Anthoine Hubert, taking his fourth victory of the season.
After a further four victories, three pole positions and five podiums he was in contention to seal his championship campaign at Jerez, the second to last race, followed by Yas Marina.
As hoped, he won the 2017 GP3 Series title after taking 4th position in race two, giving him an unprecedented lead in the championship standings. This performance saw him appear in a collection of Formula 1 Free Practice outings with the Sahara Force India Team, in which he duly impressed on both occasions.
On the eve of 2018's FIA Formula 2 season, it was confirmed that George would continue with his championship team, while also juggling his duties as Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport Reserve Driver, but make the switch to the higher division for that season. Beginning that year, the new Dallara F2 2018 also made its debut for the increased 12-race calendar. During his rookie campaign, George tallied more victories, pole positions and laps led than any other driver - despite frequent reliability issues. He claimed the championship at the final round of the season ahead of fellow countryman Lando Norris, sealing it in style with his seventh and final win of the year and feder series.
Joining the Big Leagues...
On October 12th 2018, it was announced that George would be competing with Williams Racing for 2019 on a multi-year, borrowing terms deal, with Mercedes continuing as his management for the foreseeable future. The 2019 campaign was probably one of the most challenging for George so far in his career, with a highest finish of 12th, and no single point that year. Most of his on-track action was between him and his fellow Williams driver with a pure lack of pace from the cars package. He did however prove himself in other ways, out-scouring experienced teammate Robert Kubica in qualifying each weekend. In the end, he finished 20th out of 20 drivers in Formula 1 for the 2019 season, the only driver not to score.
Continuing with the Grove-based team for the following year he gained the title Mr Saturday due to his stellar out-performance week in week out, having made 9 Q2 progressions throughout. Partnered with F2 champion Nicholas Latifi, the team slowly rooted themselves in with other backmarkers teams such as Haas and Alpha Romeo, but to no avail. Despite numerous close run-ins to the points-paying positions, George ended 2020 the same way he did 2019, with no points for Williams. During that year’s Sakhir Grand Prix, however, the opportunity for change came in the form of George replacing 7-time world champion, Lewis Hamilton after he contracted Covid-19. He sprinted his Mercedes across the line to snag a front-row lockout just 0.026 seconds behind his temporary compatriot Valterri Bottas.
Leading the majority of the race, and pulling off some great overtakes, ever more proving his class, Georges efforts all fell apart after a mid-race pit strategy mix-up, in which the pit crew bolted on his teammate’s tyres along with his own; followed by a slow puncture towards the end of the race, cruelly denied him a maiden victory twice and resulting in a P9 finish. Points nonetheless, but not where he wanted to end the race!
Remaining with the revamped Williams team again for 2021, alongside Nicholas, Georges campaign didn’t get off to the best start, having crashed during the Emilia Romagna GP and took out car number 77 along the way. During round 6 in Baku, He was running in 15th place prior to the red flag, but failed to make the restart due to gearbox issues. He then finished 12th in round 7 at France, later remarking that it was the "best race [he had] ever had together with Williams". Having qualified 11th at the Styrian Grand Prix, missing out on Q3 by eight milliseconds, He was then promoted to 10th place after Alpha Tauri driver, Yuki Tsunoda received a grid penalty, making it his best grid position for Williams thus far. During the race, George managed to gain two positions on the opening laps but later had to retire due to ongoing mechanical pressure issues. He reached Q3 for the first time in a Williams car at the Austrian GP starting eighth, the team's highest grid position since 2017, ending up P11 after being overtaken by a charging Fernando Alonso during the closing stages. He again reached Q3 at Silverstone after a sprint-race format debut but was issued with a grid penalty for colliding with car number 55, rounding out Sunday in 12th.
It was finally, at the Hungarian Grand Prix that George secured his first points for the team after 37 races, finishing eighth. As the rain came down in Belgium, George secured himself the second front row start of his career, behind Max Verstappen on pole. Due to ongoing issues with weather and safety, it was announced the race would not continue after 2 laps behind the safety car, securing Georges 2nd place and a champagne shower. During the 2021 Italian Grand Prix, George added another 2 points to his tallie, as well as another haul in Sochi after dropping back from 3rd to 10th.
In March 2021, George was also appointed as a director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, replacing the previous leader, Romain Grosjean after he transitioned to Indycar.
To the Future...
On the 7th September 2021 at 10 am, it was finally officially announced that George will partner Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes from 2022 in a multi-year contract after an influx of rumours began back in January. Time will only tell how the young Brit stacks up to the reigning champion, but we’ll all be eagerly anticipating next year’s season opener!
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