Nationality British Car no. 10 Wins 1 Name George Russell Current team Carlin Motorsport | Debut season 2015 Starts 33 Poles 0 Role Racing driver | |
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Born 15 February 1998 (age 26)
King's Lynn, England ( 1998-02-15 ) | ||
George Russell (born 15 February 1998) is a British racing driver.
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Karting
Born in King's Lynn, Norfolk, 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 team-mate 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.
Formula Three
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 team-mate 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 will switch to Hitech GP for the 2016 season.
Career summary
† As Russell was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.
Complete FIA European Formula 3 Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)