How Russell is surprising himself in F1 title race
George Russell has had to wait four years longer than he expected for this, and now his first shot at the Formula 1 world title has finally come, he says the way he feels about it is unexpected. As fate would have it, the location for our interview has brought Russell full circle. On a glorious spring evening at Silverstone on Wednesday, the Mercedes driver is officially opening the British Grand Prix track's new karting centre.
Karting is where Russell first started out in motorsport more than 20 years ago. The place he is in now is where he always dreamed he would be when he took those first steps. When Russell, 28, joined Mercedes in 2022, he had already established himself as a rising star with impressive performances for back-of-the-grid Williams.
His graduation came after a run of eight consecutive world championships for Mercedes, and in the wake of his then team-mate Lewis Hamilton's titanic and controversial title fight with Max Verstappen. The expectation was that Mercedes would continue as a leading force, and Russell would test himself at the very front against the most successful driver of all time. He got to take on Hamilton - and come out on top in two of their three seasons together.
But his arrival at Mercedes coincided with a dip in form for the team. Now, finally, Mercedes are back at the front. Despite that, Russell says that, for him, nothing feels like it has changed.
"I was a bit surprised about that myself," he says. "I'm just going about my process day to day. Every time I get in a race car, I don't think about the big picture, which is winning the championship.