George Russell (racing driver)
George William Russell is a British racing driver currently competing in Formula One for the Williams team. He was the 2018 FIA Formula 2 Champion for ART and the 2017 GP3 Series Champion.
Personal life
Russell was born in King's Lynn, Norfolk, to father Steve and mother Alison, the youngest alongside two other siblings, with his sister and 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.Junior racing career
Karting
Russell began karting in 2006 and progressed through to the cadet class by 2009, becoming MSA 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 graduated to the KF3 class in 2011, winning the SKUSA Supernationals title and becoming CIK-FIA European Champion, a title he successfully defended in 2012. In his final year of karting in 2013, Russell finished 19th in the KF1 CIK-FIA World Championship.Formula Renault 2.0
In 2014, Russell made his single-seater debut, racing in the Formula Renault 2.0 Alps championship. He originally signed to race for Prema Powerteam, before making a last-minute switch to Koiranen GP. Despite missing a round through illness, he finished fourth in the championship, taking a single podium finish at the Red Bull Ring.Russell also contested two rounds of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 championship. He took part in the Moscow round with Koiranen GP before switching to Tech 1 Racing for the final round of the season at Jerez. Racing as a guest entrant, he won the final race of the season after starting from pole position.
Formula 4
In 2014, Russell also competed in the BRDC Formula 4 Championship with defending champions Lanan Racing. He entered the final race of the season at Snetterton in a four-way title battle with teammate Arjun Maini and the HHC Motorsport pairing of Sennan Fielding and Raoul Hyman. After starting from pole position, Russell won the race, his fifth of the season, to clinch the title by just three points from Maini.As a prize for winning the BRDC Formula 4 championship, Russell tested a GP3 car with Arden Motorsport at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. In December 2014, Russell became the youngest-ever winner of the prestigious McLaren Autosport BRDC Award, beating fellow finalists Alexander Albon, Ben Barnicoat, Sennan Fielding, Seb Morris and Harrison Scott to earn himself a £100,000 cash prize, British Racing Drivers' Club membership and a Formula One test with McLaren.
In February 2015, Russell was announced as one of the twelve drivers selected to join the British Racing Drivers' Club SuperStars programme, the youngest-ever recruit to the scheme.
FIA Formula 3 European Championship
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 September 2015, Russell took part in the Masters of Formula 3 non-championship event held at Zandvoort. After finishing fourth in the qualification race, he went on to finish second behind teammate Antonio Giovinazzi in the main race. Russell was also scheduled to compete in the Macau Grand Prix with Carlin, but was replaced by Japanese Euroformula Open Championship driver Yu Kanamaru shortly before the event.
Russell switched to Hitech GP for the 2016 season, scored two victories and finished third in the standings.
GP3 Series
Russell signed with ART Grand Prix for the 2017 GP3 Series season. He had previously driven for the team at the post-season test at Yas Marina in November 2016.Russell made a solid start to the season at the Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, where he finished the weekend with 4th and 5th position finishes. The next race at the Red Bull Ring saw him take his maiden pole position and victory in the GP3 Series. Russell scored back to back pole positions at his 'home race' at Silverstone, before converting this into another victory in the first race of the weekend and taking 4th position in the second race, on his way to taking the championship lead.
A dominant performance at Spa-Francorchamps soon followed which saw Russell build his championship lead advantage, after taking a victory and a 2nd position in the two races, alongside Pole Position and Fastest Lap in both races.
The next round at Monza saw only one GP3 Series event take place after adverse weather conditions resulting into the Saturday Race being cancelled. Russell won a titanic tussle with his ART Grand Prix teammates Jack Aitken and Anthoine Hubert to seal his fourth victory of the season.
Russell had taken four victories, three pole positions and five further podiums to put him in a position to seal the championship at Jerez, with a complete round of the championship still to run at Yas Marina. Russell won the 2017 GP3 Series title after taking 4th position in race two, giving him an unassailable lead in the championship standings.
FIA Formula 2 Championship
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.Russell qualified in 2nd position on debut at Bahrain, finishing 5th in the opening round of the championship.
In Baku for the second round of the championship, Russell led the majority of the feature race before a late safety car caused drama at the restart, denying him a maiden victory in the series. Coming through from the back in the sprint race, Russell set the fastest lap on his way to taking victory from 12th on the grid.
Russell took his second victory of the season in Barcelona, after prevailing in a duel with Nyck de Vries, taking his maiden feature race win of the season. He followed that up with 4th in the sprint race to move up to 2nd in the championship standings.
In Monte-Carlo, Russell had an engine failure in free practice which severely limited his running. Russell was on the back foot, qualifying in 16th position and endured two races outside of the points.
Russell hit back in France at Le Castellet, taking his maiden pole position in Formula 2. He led a wet / dry challenging race from lights-to-flag and took his third victory of the season and the championship.
He would later go on to win the title with victory in the feature race at Abu Dhabi after a season long fight with fellow Brit Lando Norris.
Formula One
In early 2017, Russell joined Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport as a part of their junior driver programme. It was announced that Russell would take part in both days of the Budapest test on the 1–2 August, which followed the Formula One World Championship and support series races at the same circuit from the weekend before. In November the same year it was announced that Russell would make his Formula One practice debut at the Brazilian Grand Prix driving in the first practice session for Force India. Subsequently it was announced that he would also drive for them in first practice session for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.Russell was announced as one of the Pirelli Tyre Test Drivers for Force India at the post-Spanish Grand Prix test in May 2018. He completed 123 laps for the team at the test, his first in a Formula One car with 2018 specifications.
Williams (2019–present)
2019 season
On 13 October 2018, it was announced that Russell had signed a multi-year deal to drive for the Williams team, being partnered with Robert Kubica for the 2019 season. The team struggled during the season, with the Williams FW42 being the slowest car of the field. As a result, Russell's competition during races was often only his teammate. 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 penalised 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.The first retirement of Russell's career came in Singapore when he was tagged by Romain Grosjean during an overtake attempt by the Haas driver, sending Russell into a wall. He then retired again from the following race in Russia after suffering a wheel nut issue. The chaotic Brazilian Grand Prix provided one of the few opportunities of Russell's debut season to race other cars, where a late safety car allowed him to finish in 12th place, just 1.5 seconds behind a points-scoring position.
Russell ended the season in 20th place in the championship with 0 points.
2020 season
Russell continued driving for Williams in, partnered by former competitor and 2019 Formula 2 runner-up Nicholas Latifi. He retired from the opening race in Austria from a loss of fuel pressure. For the Styrian Grand Prix Russell started the race in 11th after a wet qualifying, his highest Formula One grid start to date. An early trip to the gravel effectively ended Russell’s chances at points, and he finished 16th with both Williams drivers struggling for race pace.2021 season
Williams are due to retain both Russell and Latifi for the 2021 season.Racing record
Career summary
† As Russell was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.* Season still in progress.
Complete FIA Formula 3 European Championship results
| Year | Entrant | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | DC | Points |
| 2015 | Carlin | Volkswagen | SIL 1 8 | SIL 2 1 | SIL 3 5 | HOC 1 11 | HOC 2 9 | HOC 3 18 | PAU 1 8 | PAU 2 6 | PAU 3 8 | MNZ 1 8 | MNZ 2 6 | MNZ 3 7 | SPA 1 6 | SPA 2 13 | SPA 3 3 | NOR 1 10 | NOR 2 5 | NOR 3 2 | ZAN 1 6 | ZAN 2 5 | ZAN 3 6 | RBR 1 5 | RBR 2 7 | RBR 3 9 | ALG 1 10 | ALG 2 5 | ALG 3 4 | NÜR 1 13 | NÜR 2 8 | NÜR 3 10 | HOC 1 7 | HOC 2 8 | HOC 3 Ret | 6th | 203 |
| 2016 | Hitech GP | Mercedes | LEC 1 3 | LEC 2 11 | LEC 3 18 | HUN 1 Ret | HUN 2 4 | HUN 3 Ret | PAU 1 4 | PAU 2 1 | PAU 3 3 | RBR 1 5 | RBR 2 2 | RBR 3 Ret | NOR 1 3 | NOR 2 9 | NOR 3 Ret | ZAN 1 7 | ZAN 2 9 | ZAN 3 5 | SPA 1 5 | SPA 2 1 | SPA 3 3 | NÜR 1 3 | NÜR 2 Ret | NÜR 3 7 | IMO 1 4 | IMO 2 3 | IMO 3 2 | HOC 1 7 | HOC 2 6 | HOC 3 Ret | 3rd | 264 |
Complete GP3 Series results
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Pos | Points |
| 2017 | ART Grand Prix | CAT FEA 4 | CAT SPR 5 | RBR FEA 1 | RBR SPR 6 | SIL FEA 1 | SIL SPR 4 | HUN FEA DNS | HUN SPR 11 | SPA FEA 1 | SPA SPR 2 | MNZ FEA 1 | MNZ SPR C | JER FEA 2 | JER SPR 4 | YMC FEA 2 | YMC SPR 4 | 1st | 220 |
Complete FIA Formula 2 Championship results
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | DC | Points |
| ART Grand Prix | BHR FEA 5 | BHR SPR 19 | BAK FEA 12 | BAK SPR 1 | CAT FEA 1 | CAT SPR 4 | MON FEA Ret | MON SPR Ret | LEC FEA 1 | LEC SPR 17 | RBR FEA 1 | RBR SPR 2 | SIL FEA 2 | SIL SPR 2 | HUN FEA Ret | HUN SPR 8 | SPA FEA 3 | SPA SPR 7 | MNZ FEA 4 | MNZ SPR 1 | SOC FEA 4 | SOC SPR 1 | YMC FEA 1 | YMC SPR 4 | 1st | 287 |
Complete Formula One results
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | Points | |
| Sahara Force India F1 Team | Force India VJM10 | Mercedes M08 EQ Power+ 1.6 V6 t | AUS | CHN | BHR | RUS | ESP | MON | CAN | AZE | AUT | GBR | HUN | BEL | ITA | SIN | MAL | JPN | USA | MEX | BRA TD | ABU TD | – | – | ||
| ROKiT Williams Racing | Williams FW42 | Mercedes M10 EQ Power+ 1.6 V6 t | AUS 16 | BHR 15 | CHN 16 | AZE 15 | ESP 17 | MON 15 | CAN 16 | FRA 19 | AUT 18 | GBR 14 | GER 11 | HUN 16 | BEL 15 | ITA 14 | SIN Ret | RUS Ret | JPN 16 | MEX 16 | USA 17 | BRA 12 | ABU 17 | 20th | 0 | |
| Williams Racing | Williams FW43 | Mercedes-AMG F1 M11 EQ Performance 1.6 V6 t | AUT Ret | STY 16 | HUN 18 | GBR | 70A | ESP | BEL | ITA | TUS | RUS | EIF | POR | EMI | 20th* | 0* |
* Season still in progress.