George Russell endured a baptism of fire, battling a recalcitrant Williams car at the back end of the grid in his debut Formula One season. Yet the then 21-year-old was perceptive from the off, observing at that season’s British Grand Prix: “In F1 it’s not just about driving, it’s about the whole package.” Seven years later, he believes the package is all but complete, leading the world championship and a strong favourite to go on to win his first title.
He heads into this weekend’s Japanese GP with a win and second place from the first two races and – thanks also to a sprint victory in China – has a four-point advantage over his teenage Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli. With their car thus far the class of the field, Russell has demonstrated the calm, assured control and execution long-promised by his talent. The attitude he takes into his title tilt was fashioned from that time at Williams and later Mercedes.
“When I was younger I was frustrated, I was getting angry, especially when I was at Williams and finishing second to last every weekend,” he says. “I was pissed off. I worked my whole life to get to F1 and now I’m at the back, and doing nothing,” he says. “So I had to work on that, how do I deal with that and I came to the realisation that I just need to focus on my job. I can’t spit my dummy out over something that I can’t control. All I can do is drive as fast as possible and the result will be what the result will be.
“Now I’ve found myself at the total opposite [end] and I’ve got the same mentality. My goal is just to drive as fast as possible, if that means I’m going to win on a Sunday, fantastic but I’m not going to go home on a Monday celebrating like crazy because I know there’s a big picture here and my goal is to become a world champion. So I know I just need to continue on the same approach I’ve had over these seven years, because it’s gotten me to this point.”
At 28, Russell cuts a markedly different figure to the endearingly tousled-haired youth at Silverstone that weekend. Sitting in the Mercedes motorhome at Suzuka, he has the calm, confident air of a man who has not only put his time in at Williams and then indeed at Mercedes which, while in a different class, was still a turbulent beast to handle.
Russell did his best in a mercurial car under the previous ground-effect regulations which Mercedes never quite got on top of. Yet when it was on form Russell exploited it, entirely unintimidated at going up against the seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton as his teammate. He outqualified him during their three seasons together and, in no small feat, beat Hamilton on points in 2022 and 2024. There were standout wins, not least his first at the São Paulo Grand Prix in 2022, in Las Vegas in 2024 and last season at Canada and Singapore.
He was without doubt frustrated at not having a more consistently quick car but kept his head down and ground out the results, all the while patiently honing his craft.
When 2026 opened and, as had been expected, Mercedes stole something of a march on the opposition under the new regulations, Russell was more than ready to step up.
“I don’t think I’ve got anything to prove, to be honest,” he says. “That’s helped me a lot as I’ve gotten older because when you’re younger you are trying to prove yourself and you want to try and be funny, you want to come across nice. You want to do this, you want to do that, to please the right people, whereas now, I don’t really care.
“I just want to be myself, I want to be happy with the people who are closest to me, I want to work hard with my team, and I want to drive as fast as possible on the racetrack.”
Driving fast on the racetrack has been a constant since Russell started karting as a kid, before which he had been following his brother on the karting circuit, zipping round the paddock on a pedal tractor with a water tank on the back to fill the kart’s radiator. Yet with experience has also come the realisation that relentless focus on that one thing might not be entirely beneficial. Russell now explains that an equally important component of his championship ambition is the people he has closest to him.
Outside his family he cites a triumvirate of Aleix Casanovas, his trainer since 2017, and Harry Soden, his manager since 2013, and his girlfriend Carmen Montero Mundt, whom he has been with since 2020. Most drivers are at pains to keep their private lives private. Russell, however, is more than happy to share the pivotal role Carmen has played even switching her time zone to his when they are in different countries.
“There’s not many people in your life that you’re happy to let your guard down to,” Russell says. “Having that support from someone you love makes a big difference. We live this spectacular life but you are on the road by yourself quite often. You get to a hotel, you’ve got fans outside, and you’re not there having a good time with your mates. You’re quite isolated in your hotel room and it’s difficult to get about. So, having that mental support is a huge part of it.
“Before a race, if there are certain nerves, I feel comfortable sharing that with her and she’ll help me deal with those nerves or it is supporting me through the time-zone shifts. She supports me through everything, but beyond that, she actually really understands the sport and what it takes for me to perform at the level I do. She knows what it takes and she’s on this journey with me.”
There is an honesty and transparency to Russell’s discussion of his feelings and their role in professional life that is engaging, especially given how painfully guarded some drivers can be.
“As you get older, you get a better perspective on life,” he says. “Growing up, every single second was F1 and racing. When I got a bit older I realised if you’re consumed every minute of every day on that goal, it actually can be counterproductive.
“You want to do your best in every single area but the truth is, you can’t. Because there’s too many things going on. So, just finding what’s going to give you the best performance on a Saturday or Sunday is what I’ve worked on.”
Last season the Mercedes team principal, Toto Wolff, said he believed Russell was in the top three drivers in F1 and “maybe on his way to top one”. On these early performances Russell is meeting theexpectation of being the best. Wolff went further, ruling out any move for Max Verstappen and putting his backing with Russell for up to another decade.
“George has been with us since 2017 and there is no reason why that shouldn’t keep going until 2037. The Max to Mercedes thing for now is not on. The situation is completely transparent. We have clear contracts with both drivers.”
A long season remains, with 20 races still to go, but it is clear Russell is not going to let the best chance of his career go begging, pressure that the British driver says he carries with ease.
“I feel zero weight, I feel zero pressure, I feel no additional excitement because I was always so excited to go racing, even when I was at the back I was just so excited to go racing,” he says. “I’m not thinking: ‘I’m leading the championship, this is awesome, this is what I’ve dreamed of’. It’s not, I didn’t dream of leading the championship, I dreamed of winning the championship. That, I hope, is what I’ll feel at the end of the season.”
