Interview -- 4 hours ago
George Russell is a glass-half-full kind of guy
Down in Monaco, the Mercedes driver talks satisfaction, style, and the perils of social media
- Words: Rory FH Smith
- Photography: Pier Nicola Bruno
Down in Monaco, the Mercedes driver talks satisfaction, style, and the perils of social media
For those with nothing more than a passing interest in Formula One, you might think George Russell has had a tough time this year. As a Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team driver, the 26-year-old Brit has had to go through a tense season with an underperforming car, lagging far behind current championship leaders (and fellow countryman) Lando Norris as well as Max Verstappen. But on the contrary, Russell is in a chipper mood, fresh from a shoot with Tommy Hilfiger in his hometown of Monaco.
In 2022, aged 24, Russell was thrown head first into the deep-end when he left Williams to join Formula One heavyweights Mercedes alongside Sir Lewis Hamilton, one of the greatest drivers of all time. No pressure, then.
Since then, it’s been far from the joyous ride Russell might have expected, with Mercedes struggling to find the same undisrupted success it had enjoyed between 2014 and 2021. In short, the team’s luck and performance dropped off a cliff, which unfortunately coincided with Russell’s arrival.
“It’s mixed feelings because as a team, we’re far from the performances we want to achieve,” admits Russell. “But for me, personally, I’ve qualified ahead of my teammate more times than not and I’ve finished ahead of my teammate more times than not, so I can’t be disappointed that I’ve only got two victories to my name this season.” Well, let’s call it one and a half, since he was handed a disastrous disqualification for an underweight car after he crossed the line first in Belgium — a win that was handed straight to Lewis Hamilton, to add insult to injury. But when your teammate is widely considered to be the greatest driver of all time, that’s still some achievement, by anyone’s standards.
“As F1 drivers, you’ve only really got one comparison and that’s your teammate,” says Russell. “I know that if I’d finished ahead of him in any other season or year, that would probably have meant a race victory, and if I’d finished ahead of him all season, that probably would have meant a World Championship.” Unfortunately for Russell, all of the circumstances that disqualified him from the race came at the wrong time. Despite his best efforts, the game of F1 is about more than talent these days. You need a complete race-winning package, too. Something Russell is all too aware he’s lacking.
“I would have hoped to have had a number of complete victories to my name by now, and I would have liked to have fought for a championship by now, but Formula One is all about timing.” Despite this, he’s not letting it get him down. Not today, at least. This good-natured, guy is living the stereotypical racing driver’s dream in the sunny, tax-efficient climes of Monaco, modelling for Tommy Hilfiger’s new Holiday Collection. It’s a far cry from the wilds of King’s Lynn where he grew up.
Since the age of eight, the Norfolk-born son of a farmer has been crystal clear about what he wants. “When I was a kid, I believed I would get to where I am today,” he says confidently. “You’re naive and you’re probably a bit arrogant then, and you don’t know the challenges of the world when you’re in your younger years.”
Despite how difficult it is to reach the pinnacle of motorsport, getting into Formula One is, for want of a better phrase, largely — if brutally — formulaic.
Russell and every one of his peers trod the same steps on the slippery motorsport ladder to get to where they are now. Starting out touring the country below the age of 10, with your parents in tow, you take on junior karting races. If you’re lucky, you might win one, stepping up on the first rung of the ladder. From there, you might graduate to national championships — another step on the ladder — and then head further afield, to Europe in order to win a championship overseas — yet another step higher.
Then, providing you’ve got what it takes (as well as the financial means to pay for all this) you’re into Formula Four, then Formula Three, then Two and finally Formula One — a pinnacle very few drivers will ever get the chance to reach. “We’re one of 20 people in the world,” says Russell. “If you don’t find yourself as a young driver getting an opportunity, it passes you by and the ship has sailed. To get in, one great driver has to leave first. I think that’s something people don’t quite comprehend.”
With 14 podiums and two wins gained from 125 races in his F1 career at the time of writing, Russell has done better than many of his peers. But he’s far from the mind-boggling numbers behind his elder teammate’s success in the sport. We’re talking 201 podiums, 105 wins and seven drivers’ World Championship titles from Sir Lewis Hamilton’s 353 races in F1.
But this moment marks the end of the road for Hamilton and Russell’s time as teammates, with Hamilton parting ways with Mercedes as he moves to Ferrari for the 2025 season. “It’s been a real privilege these last three years, and I’ve learned so much from Lewis — he’s such an inspirational individual and such an exceptional driver,” explains Russell. But the relationship between Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes hasn’t exactly been marital bliss for the last three years. “[Mercedes and Hamilton] have had so much success together but we haven’t been successful these last three years. He hasn’t won the races he’s wanted to win and I haven’t won the races I wanted to win, so we’re changing the mould.”
While that ‘changing of the mould’ has caused quite a stir in the motorsport world, Russell sees it as no bad thing. In stark contrast to the 39-year-old, seven-time World Champion, Mercedes has tasked 18-year-old Andrea Kimi Antonelli to take the German powerhouse back to the top of the podium. “We’ve now got a different dynamic with me being the older of the two drivers, as well as the more experienced between us both” says Russell.
Picking Antonelli as Russell’s new teammate was a bold move for Mercedes. They’ve gone from a seasoned pro to a relatively unknown driver who is 20 years Sir Hamilton’s junior. Let’s put that into context: Antonelli was two-years old when Hamilton won his first World Championship in 2008. Russell, meanwhile, was only 10.
“Changing the mould when it hasn’t been working these last three years is no bad thing,” reasons Russell. “I’m really excited to see how a young kid gets on, to be honest. “I’m only eight years older than him, even though everyone’s talking like I’m this old chap within the team. I’m 26-years old!” says the Brit.
“I remember how I felt when I was 18-years old, you know, full of confidence, arrogance, naivety, excitement. But he’s an exceptionally fast driver, and I’ve got no doubt he’s going to keep me on my toes.” Given the 2024 season wraps up in Abu Dhabi in December, both Russell and Mercedes are already looking further ahead. While 2025 will see Antonelli and Russell partner for their first full season, it’s 2026 that the big milestone for all involved in the sport, as the regulation changes promise to shake up the running order.
But before then, Russell’s got some time on his hands to enjoy the spoils of the sport before the circus starts up again in March 2025. Given the Norfolk-boy traded in a ‘regular’ childhood for time at the track before his tenth birthday, he’s adamant about his career choice. “For me, there’s been no sacrifices,” says Russell, without hesitation. “These are choices. I wanted to be a Formula One driver, and that was way more important to me than going out and having a drink at the weekend in my teenage years, or even now,” he insists.
It’s a clarity not all drivers share, with some pausing on the question a great deal longer than Russell, suggesting their path in life was not all their own choosing. But not for Russell. “I wanted this, and that was my choice,” he assures.
Perhaps it’s easy to be that confident when the gamble has clearly paid off. But for the tens of thousands of drivers who fail to make it into F1, the time sacrificed must be a bitter pill to swallow. While Russell’s F1 future looks certain, for now at least, it’s a cut-throat sport that sees countless drivers fall by the wayside.
Still, Russell seems to be enjoying the other perks of racing driver life, particularly his and Mercedes’ long-standing relationship with Tommy Hilfiger. “We’ve been with Tommy now for as long as I remember,” says Russell. “It’s opened me up to a creative world that I once never really knew of, or was even thinking about,” he admits.
“Fashion is not really something I ever thought about when I was 18 and starting out in Formula One. I didn’t even consider the impact it would have on me as a person, but over the years I’ve learnt that how I dress has such an influence on my confidence and how people perceive me.” With the runaway success of Netflix series like Drive to Survive, F1 drivers have been cast into the spotlight like never before. Sure, previous generations of drivers enjoyed celebrity status — take Michael Schumacher, Sir Jackie Stewart and Sir Stirling Moss, for example — but today’s flock are at the mercy of a documentary that’s more like a reality TV show, with millions judging their performance on track as much as their lifestyle choices off it.
This jarring situation is something Russell is all too aware of. In an interview with the The Athletic earlier this year, Russell revealed a darker side to the fame gained from racing around the world for a living. “There’s a lot of hate and negativity. And it’s almost impossible to avoid,” he said, when asked about social media. “It doesn’t matter who it’s about, I’d say 50 per cent of the time it’s negative. I find that quite tough to comprehend,” he added. While racing at breakneck speeds and representing global fashion behemoths around the world is certainly glamorous, today’s racing protagonists have to deal with all new pressures off-track, in a world increasingly dominated by social media. “When you walk into a race track and you’ve got the world’s eyes on you, and hundreds of photographers and cameras everywhere, you need to feel good in what you’re wearing,” Russell admits. “When I was younger, I never recognised the impact fashion has, and sometimes going outside of my comfort zone. That’s been one of the real positives working with Tommy,” he reveals.
Despite grappling with the darker side, Russell’s showing no sign of jumping off the Formula One train, so long as he can help it. Confident his time at the sharp end of the sport is yet to come, Russell — like all 19 of his peers — is eyeing a championship title. “Michael Schumacher was in his fifth season with Ferrari before he won his first championship, but we all just remember Michael Schumacher and the Ferrari glory,” he reminds me. “I would have, of course, loved to have achieved more by now, but with the position I found myself in, I don’t think there’s much more we could have achieved and because of that, I’m very satisfied.”
With a handful of wins to his name and, all being well, Russell is primed for more silverware with Mercedes in the coming seasons. Should his new-found seniority as the more experienced driver in the team not work out, however, he can always go back to his roots. “If I wasn’t a racing driver, I probably would have done some sort of farming,” he says, pausing for a moment. “That’s what my father always did.”
But the 26-year-old isn’t thinking too hard about life beyond the paddock just yet. After all, George Russell is a glass-half-full kind of guy.
This feature was taken from our Winter 2024 issue. Read more about it here.
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