George Russell: Profile, Championships, Racing Style & more

George Russell has been in F1 for six seasons and the Mercedes ace will be hoping to mount a drivers' title challenge in 2025.

Date of Birth	15th February 1998
Current team	Mercedes
Previous team(s)	Williams
F1 Debut	2019 Australian Grand Prix
F1 World Championships	0

George Russell's career so far

Seen as a future world champion after a hugely successful career in junior racing series, Russell impressed in an uncompetitive car at Williams, but his move to a top team with Mercedes coincided with them having their worst two seasons for a decade. 

The 2024 campaign saw Russell make progress from the previous season when he failed to win a single race in 2023.

Finishing in sixth place in the Drivers’ Championship, Russell will know he and Mercedes still have work to do to catch the likes of Max Verstappen and Lando Norris at the front of the pack.

Biography

The youngest of three siblings, Russell grew up in Cambridgeshire and went to school at Wisbech Grammar School before being homeschooled to focus on his racing.

Moving to Milton Keynes at the age of 18 to be closer to his junior racing, Russell’s racing career kicked off from there.

Journey to F1

Russell began karting at the age of seven and won the British cadet class aged 10 in 2008. More success followed and he was the European champion in 2011 and 2012. 

He moved to single-seater car racing in 2014, winning the British Formula 4 Championship in his first season, before moving up to Formula 3 the following year, finishing sixth and third in his two seasons in that category. 

Russell then won the two main support categories to F1 in back-to-back seasons, becoming GP3 champion in 2017 with the ART team and winning the Formula 2 championship at his first attempt in 2018, winning seven races to finish well clear of runner-up Norris and third-placed Alex Albon.

F1 career to date

Williams

Russell's first F1 appearance came when he drove for Force India in two practice sessions at the end of the 2017 season, having joined the Mercedes junior programme earlier that year.

He made his F1 race debut for the Williams team in the 2019 Australian Grand Prix, finishing 16th, but failed to score a point all season in an uncompetitive car and had a best finish of 11th. However, he outqualified his experienced team-mate Robert Kubica in all 21 races.

It was the same story in 2020 as Russell again did not score a point for the back-of-the-grid Williams, but he went close to a first race win when getting a golden opportunity to step into the championship-leading Mercedes car.

World champion Lewis Hamilton was unable to compete in the Sakhir Grand Prix, so Russell partnered Valtteri Bottas as they filled the front row in qualifying with the Finn marginally ahead on pole.

Russell took the lead and held it deep into the race until a pit-stop blunder by the team forced him to stop on consecutive laps.

He worked his way back up to second place until suffering a puncture, eventually finishing ninth with the only comfort being setting the fastest lap of the race.

Mercedes

That performance led to calls for Russell to replace Bottas at Mercedes in 2021, but he was made to wait a further 12 months, finishing 15th in the championship with Williams.

He kept his name in the headlines when he qualified second in the wet at the Belgian Grand Prix and claimed the same place in the race, which lasted only three laps behind the safety car.

That was still good enough for a first podium finish, but Russell's move to Mercedes did not bring the expected results as the team hit a rough patch and Red Bull became the sport's dominant team.

Russell finished fourth in the championship in his first season with Mercedes, but he took his first pole at the Hungarian Grand Prix and claimed his first race victory at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. 

Russell won the sprint race and the Grand Prix to give the team their only win of the season and he went on to finish fourth in the championship, two places ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

The 2023 season saw Russell take a step back and finish eighth, with a best race finish of third in both Spain and Abu Dhabi.

In 2024, Russell showed signs of progress, winning two races at the Austrian GP and Las Vegas GP to finish in sixth place in the Drivers’ Championship.

George Russell F1 Record

• 2019 Williams, 20th

• 2020 Williams/Mercedes, 18th

• 2021 Williams, 15th

• 2022 Mercedes, 4th, 1 win

• 2023 Mercedes, 8th

• 2024 Mercedes, 6th, 2 wins

George Russell best races

With three career wins to his name, Russell’s best performances have come in Brazil, Austria and in the US at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Winning his maiden race was a special moment for Russell, as he finished in third place in qualifying to beat team-mate Hamilton (2nd) and Carlos Sainz Jr (3rd) to take the chequered flag for the first time in Sao Paolo.

George Russell best seasons & World Championship wins

Russell’s best finish in the Drivers’ Championship came in 2022 when he came in fourth place.

The 27-year-old is therefore yet to win his first world title.

George Russell nationality 

Where is George Russell from?

Russell is a British driver, having been born in King’s Lynn in Norfolk, England.

George Russell net worth

Russell's net worth has been reported to be around $16million.

George Russell racing style

Russell has been compared to fellow countrymen and former world champions Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton.

Breaking earlier and turning later than some of his rivals, Russell tends to take wide exits out of corners to generate as much speed as possible.

Thoughts on Russell's racing style

Russell has been described by Williams' Dave Robson as an instinctive driver who can adapt to a variety of cars.

"I think there are definitely some similarities there," said Robson, who has compared Russell to Hamilton.

"And they were obvious from the first time I met George and we ran him in the simulator in Grove. Then we went up and ran him around the airfield in a road car.

"Again, there was something. There was something there.

"I think the talent is there. I think he is very close to Lewis and has the potential to get there. For sure."