George Russell

George William Russell is a British racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Mercedes. Russell was born on 15 February 1998 in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, to father Steve and mother Alison. He is the youngest alongside two siblings: a sister, Cara, and an older brother, Benjy. Russell took up karting at the age of 7, having spent much of his time around karting tracks and his brother Benjy, who was also involved in competitive karting. Growing up in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, Russell was educated at the Wisbech Grammar School, before moving to Milton Keynes at the age of 18 to be closer to his racing teams. Like his father, he is a fan of Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club.

On 13 October 2018, it was announced that Russell had signed a multi-year deal to drive for the Williams team, partnering Robert Kubica for the 2019 season. The Williams FW42 lacked pace and was the slowest car of the field; in most races Kubica was Russell’s only on-track competition. At the rain-affected German Grand Prix, Russell crossed the line in 13th place before being promoted to 11th after the Alfa Romeo drivers were penalized post-race for using driver aids. Although he made his debut at the 2019 Australian Grand Prix, he stood in for Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix as Hamilton missed out due to Covid-19.

George Russell before F1

Russell graduated to Formula Three in 2015, racing in the FIA European Formula 3 Championship with Carlin. He took his first race victory in the opening round of the season at Silverstone, finishing ahead of fellow debutant Charles Leclerc and Antonio Giovinazzi in the second race of the weekend. He took a further two podium places at Spa-Francorchamps and the Norisring to finish sixth in the championship.He also finished as runner-up to Leclerc in the rookie championship standings. 

In January 2018 Russell was confirmed as a driver for ART Grand Prix for the 2018 FIA Formula 2 Championship, which would see the new Dallara F2 2018 make its debut in the expanding 12-race calendar. He was also confirmed as the Mercedes’ reserve driver, sharing duties with Pascal Wehrlein the following month. He would later go on to win the title with a victory in the feature race at Abu Dhabi after a season-long fight with fellow Brit Lando Norris.

F1 Debut and Team

On 13 October 2018, it was announced that Russell had signed a multi-year deal to drive for the Williams team, partnering Robert Kubica for the 2019 season. The Williams FW42 lacked pace and was the slowest car of the field, in most races Kubica was Russell’s only on-track competition. At the rain-affected German Grand Prix, Russell crossed the line in 13th place before being promoted to 11th after the Alfa Romeo drivers were penalized post-race for using driver aids. He narrowly missed out on scoring his maiden point in Formula One, having been overtaken by Kubica in the closing laps. He finished the race 12th. At the Hungarian Grand Prix, Russell came from 17th on the grid to finish a career-best eighth (after Sebastian Vettel’s disqualification), earning his first points for Williams.

Russell joined Mercedes in 2022, replacing Valtteri Bottas and joining seven-time world drivers champion Lewis Hamilton. Ahead of the 2022 season Russell chose to radically overhaul his helmet design by dropping his previously red helmet design in favor of a predominantly black design with red on the sides only out of respect for Michael Schumacher. In his first race as a full-time race driver for Mercedes, Russell finished fourth. In his 63rd start, the 2022 Australian Grand Prix, after starting 6th on the grid, he achieved 3rd, his second podium.

Formula 1 Career Stats

George Russell Car Number

Russell uses 63 as his car number because that was his brother’s number, he started karting in an indoor karting center and he always had number 63, so this has been the family number ever since.