Russell has impressed in his early racing career, moving through karting to single seater junior series. He joined the Mercedes junior development programme, and participated in young driver testing for the squad. For the Brazilian Grand Prix weekend in 2017, Russell made his F1 debut on Friday practice for the Force India squad.

F1 biography

George Russell has had a traditional start to his racing career, with plenty of karting experience, wins and championships, before moving on to single seaters. He started out in the Formula Renault 2.0 Alps series, as well as Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0.

For the 2014 racing season, Russell joined Formula 4 and won the championship at the first time of asking. This success led to a GP3 test, a McLaren Autosport BRDC award and an F1 test as well. Formula Three was the next series in 2015 and 2016, with a full time GP3 driver in 2017.

Russell won the GP3 championship with a strong and impressive performance. During the year, Russell was signed to the Mercedes development programme which involved taking part in the young driver test. For the penultimate race of the season, Russell was given the chance to drive for Force India in Friday Practice.