George Russell

George Russell (born 15 February 1998 in King's Lynn, Norfolk, UK) is a British racing driver who won the 2018 FIA Formula 2 Championship driving for ART Grand Prix. A member of the Mercedes-Benz Junior Team, Russell arrived in F2 as the reigning GP3 Series Champion, a title he had also won with ART, and would go on to win F2 at the first attempt in 2018.

Prior to securing his F2 Championship triumph, Russell would earn himself a drive in Formula One for the 2019 season, joining Williams.

Background
Russell's career would begin in karting at the age of eight, before progressing through the ranks to become a two-time CIK-FIA European Champion in 2012. A year later Russell came 19th in the KF1 CIK-FIA World Championship, before making a move to Formula Renault 2.0 Alps in 2014.

Single Seater Surge
The 2.0 Alps was not to be Russell's only venture in Formula Renault in 2014, with the Brit also taking part in the Eurocup at select races. Furthermore, the Brit would compete in the BRDC Formula 4 Championship, duly snatching that title at the end of the season. Indeed, despite failing to win in his other categories, Russell's triumph in F4 earned him a GP3 Series test, as well as the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award and a test with McLaren Racing in a Formula One car.

For 2015 Russell gained a seat in the Formula 3 European Championship with Carlin Motorsport, and duly won the opening race of the season. A further series of strong performances would see Russell just miss out on the title to Charles Leclerc, with Russell ultimately sticking with the F3 Championship for 2016. An additional couple of victories saw Russell finish the season in third, before making the move to GP3 in 2017.

Mercedes Member
On 19 January 2017 Russell signed two contracts, one to join the Mercedes-Benz Junior Team, putting him in a prime position for a future Formula One career, and the other to join ART Grand Prix in GP3. It was a relatively slow start to Russell's GP3 career, with the Brit having to wait until his second race weekend to stand on top of the podium. However, that result would be the start of a huge run of podiums and victories for Russell, with the Brit taking four wins to head into the final round having already secured the title.

Formula 2 History
A year after joining the Mercedes Junior Team, Russell was signed up to the FIA Formula 2 Championship, once again racing for ART Grand Prix for 2018. The Brit would have a solid start to the season, again having to wait until the second round to claim victory for the first time, sweeping to victory in the 2018 Baku Sprint Race. That, combined with a second straight victory in the Barcelona Feature, would put Russell into the Championship hunt with five races down.

Weaving Wins: 2018
Unfortunately for Russell he would drop back down the order in Monte Carlo, retiring from both races to slip to fourth in table, and 36 behind Lando Norris. Yet, at the following round at Le Castellet Russell would all but wipe out that gap, sweeping to pole and victory after a race long battle with Norris' teammate Sérgio Sette Câmara. Unfortunately for the Brit and issue at the start of the Sprint saw him lose out, allowing Norris to extend the lead.

Next time out and Russell and Norris would fight for victory in the Red Bull Ring Feature, the former coming out on top as Norris fell away following a late race safety car. Indeed, momentum seemed to be building behind Russell, with the Brit duly charging through to second in the Sprint to grab the Championship lead by ten points, prior to his home races at Silverstone. There, Russell would score his third straight pole position ahead of the Feature, only to miss out on victory to Alexander Albon, before battling through to second in the Sprint behind Maximilian Günther.

Those results, combined with a poor showing from Norris, meant that Russell arrived at the Hungaroring with a commanding lead in the Championship. Indeed, Russell was able to retire from the Feature race in Hungary and still retain the lead, before clinching a single point in the Sprint from the back of the grid. Russell hence headed into the summer-break with a twelve point advantage over Norris, with another eighteen point gap back to Albon in third.

Russell's consistent point scoring form resumed after the summer break, with a third and a seventh in the Spa-Francorchamps races allowing the Brit to extend his lead even further. A fourth pole of the season followed in Monza, although Russell would only manage to claim victory in the Sprint after a long battle with Artem Markelov. Another fourth place, this time without pole, would follow in the Sochi Feature, before Russell claimed his sixth win of the season in the Sprint to leave him on the verge of the title.

Indeed, a miserable run of form for Norris had left him too far back to challenge Russell ahead of the Season Finale in Abu Dhabi, leaving Albon as the only man who could deny Russell the crown. Yet, Russell was not to be denied and duly recorded pole and victory in the Feature to clinch the crown with a race to spare as Albon stalled on the grid. Indeed, with the pressure off Russell could cruise home to fourth in the final race of the season, while Albon lost out to Norris in the final standings.

Post Formula 2 Career
Russell would, prior to officially being declared as the 2018 FIA Formula 2 Championship Champion, would sign a deal to race for Williams in the FIA Formula One World Championship in 2019, while also remaining a Mercedes-Benz Junior Team member.

Full Formula 2 Record
Shown below are a series of tables outlining 's career in Formula 2 in statistical form.

Formula 2 Entries
The list below includes all of the teams and cars, as well as overall finishing positions for during their F2 career:

Career Results
Below is a table showing 's full Formula 2 record.


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