George Russell – Mercedes – Bio, F1 Record, Stats and News

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George Russell entered the F1 circus after winning back-to-back titles in GP3 and F2. He made his F1 debut at the back of the grid with Williams on loan from Mercedes. After bettering his teammate with a string of impressive performances, he was called up to the Mercedes F1 team for 2022 to replace the outgoing Valtteri Bottas.

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The immensely talented George secured his first win and pole position while helping the team finish 3rd in the constructors championship.

George Russell’s Young F1 Journey and Career In Retrospect

In his rookie year, George Russell partnered the veteran pole, Robert Kubica, in a Williams, which honestly belonged in Formula 2 at that point. He was expected to outperform Robert, and he did so throughout the season, qualifying ahead of his teammate for all 21 races that season, but with all of his years of experience, Robert pipped George to the single-point finish that season for the team.

In 2020, he was paired with rookie Nicolas Latifi. Nicolas was always seen as the inferior driver of the team, and he was branded with the label “pay-driver”, by the fans. George was expected to comfortably beat Nicolas in both qualifying and the races. George kept his clean qualifying record intact, whitewashing a teammate for the second year in a row. Still, his only 3 points for the season came from a one-off Mercedes appearance where he stood-in for a COVID-infected Lewis Hamilton.

With the driver line-up unchanged, George really had to prove his worth in 2021. He dragged a backmarker car to places where it didn’t belong. He impressed the paddock with his consistency and kept pushing the car into Q3. Even though he couldn’t continue his streak of whitewashing his teammates, he had done enough to warrant a Mercedes seat for 2022.

The Mercedes F1 team took a step backward in terms of development for 2022. George outperformed seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton for the first part of the season. But Lewis, in typical fashion, wouldn’t give up and turned up his performance for the remainder of 2022.

George Russell was an incredibly consistent point scorer for the team, having a points-scoring streak of nine races from the start of the season, which ended with the nasty crash in Silverstone. He finished outside the points on only two out of twenty two occasions, in Singapore and Silverstone. He gathered 275 points to Lewis’s 240, but lost the qualifying battle 13-9.

His First F1 Career Points Came as He Stood In for Lewis Hamilton

It was the 2020 Sakhir GP, and Sir Lewis Hamilton had contracted COVID-19. Mercedes turned to George Russell, who had been waiting for his chance to prove his worth for a ‘bigger’ team. He seized this opportunity with both hands, qualifying P2 only 0.026s behind teammate Valtteri Bottas.

Russell jumped his more experienced teammate heading into Turn 1 and held his ground until a pitstop mix-up, where he was forced to pit again because of a mixed tire set on the car. Nevertheless determined, Russell went hunting down cars in front of him with ease, only for him to develop a slow puncture when he was P2. He finished P9 and secured his first F1 points.

The Best Performance for the Poor Williams Team

Russell’s 2021 season was peppered with incredible highs, but his absolute alien qualifying performance in the rain-soaked Spa qualifying session has to be the crown among them. He put his Williams an incredible P2.

The paddock was shocked and lauded his efforts. The torrential rain continued on Sunday, and as a result, after two laps of running behind the Safety Car, George Russell was now a podium sitter in a rain-soaked Spa that weekend and achieved his first points in a chaotic Hungarian Grand Prix.

Crash with Valtteri Bottas In Italy and First Career Win

George Russell was battling the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas for P9 in the 2021 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix when they collided into each other and crashed out. Bottas’ capabilities were called into question as to why he was battling such an inferior car in the first place, and there have been rumours that this incident is what tipped Mercedes to bring in George for 2022.

The first-ever F1 win for the Brit came in 2021, in Brazil, at the Sao Paulo GP. Coincidently, that was the first win for the Mercedes team that entire season and on top of that, Hamilton finished second to make one-two for Mercedes in Brazil.

George Russell’s Family and Personal Life

George was born on February 15, 1998, to Steve and Alison Russell. He was the youngest of three siblings. His older brother, Benjy, was also involved in competitive karting, and he attributes his racing number to his brother.

George’s father, Steve, owned a small business, and whatever cash was earned was put toward furthering George’s career, a decision that obviously paid off immensely.

Supported By His Long-Term Girlfriend at the Races

George dated fellow F2 compatriot Nick De Vries’ sister before breaking things off with her. He started dating his current girlfriend, Carmen Montero Mundt soon after. The pair have traveled the globe together after making things official, and Carmen can be regularly seen in the Mercedes garage cheering for her partner.

PUMA’s Brand Ambassador and an Avid Watch Collector

George’s current F1 salary is 8 million USD, but his network is double that, around 16 million USD. He has a collection of very impressive cars and also has a knack for collecting watches, having amassed quite a few of them. He has signed many sponsorship deals too, and he is the brand ambassador for PUMA.

• Full name: George William Russell
• DOB: 15th February 1998
• Age: 25
• Place of Birth: King’s Lynn, Norfolk, UK
• Nationality: British
• Team: Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team
• Race number: #63

Impressive Junior Career Earned George a Spot In Formula One

Russell started karting in 2006, significantly influenced by his older brother Benjy, and like most who made it into F1, his talent was backed up by the trophies and results. George was a prolific race winner in his junior formula days.

He steamrolled his opposition with ease and won the 2014 F4 championship in his first attempt before finishing 6th next year in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship. He finished 3rd in 2016 in the same category and decided to move on to GP3. He absolutely blitzed the GP3 paddock and ran away with the title.

George then moved on to the F2 scene, driving for ART Grand Prix, where he would once again go on to come away with a title in his first year of asking and become the fourth driver to win the GP3/F3 and GP2/F2 consecutively.

High Hopes for 2023 Season as Russell Further Establishes In His F1 Role

George finished the 2023 season opener at P7 behind a very impressive Aston Martin driven by Lance Stroll. George outqualified Lewis, but finished behind him in the race. Russell should have the edge over Lewis in qualifying this season, but will have to battle the record-breaking champion of F1 as he is gunning for his 8th world championship.

George integrated into the Mercedes team extremely well and should aim to finish in the top 4 of the driver’s championship for the second year in a row. George has the ability to win races and should be capable of bagging a couple of wins in a few of the more chaotic races this 2023 Formula 1 season.

The season opener in Bahrain

George Russell was on form for the season opener; he took the fight to his seven-time world champion teammate, outqualified him by one position, and was poised to start the race at P6.He lost out to a lightning-quick Fernando Alonso, who had dropped back after a tussle with his teammate. George fell further down the pecking order after losing out while making his pit stop. He finished two places behind his teammate at P7.

Consistency continues in Jeddah

George Russell was able to keep up his impressive qualifying form for the second race of the season as he parked his car at P4 for Sunday while his teammate, Lewis Hamilton, would start the race from P8. George Russell kept his P4 when the chequered flag was waved; he had a chance of grabbing the last step on the podium, but Fernando was able to elude the attempts.

Mr. Staurday was back in Melbourne

George Russell put his Mercedes in P2 when the qualifying session came to an end. There were shouts to bring back the “Mr. Saturday’ nickname for him. He overtook Max on lap one and was leading the race until he pitted for fresh tyres, but unfortunately the red flag was called for debris on the track, and the entire grid got a free pitstop, and George’s advantage was no more. He had to retire on lap 16 when his power unit ignited.

Little Shaky Baku Weekend

George was unable to make it into Q3 for the first time in 2023. He would start the race from P11, but he was able to put in a better sprint qualification session where he put in his Mercedes P4, which he was able to hold onto for the duration of the sprint race. He was able to push forward for the race on Sunday and was up to P8 when he crossed the checkered flag.

Miami Party 

George was able to get back to Q3 with a sublime qualifying lap, which let him plant his car in P7 while Lewis languished back in P13. George was able to improve his position by making crucial passes so that he could get to P4.

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