George Russell (born 15 February 1998) is a British racing driver currently competing in Formula One for the Williams team. He was the 2018 FIA Formula 2 Champion for ART and the 2017 GP3 Series Champion.

Early life

Russell was born in King's Lynn, Norfolk, and educated at Wisbech Grammar School, a fee-paying independent day school in the market town of Wisbech in Cambridgeshire.

Junior racing career

Karting

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.