George Russell Brings a “Piece of Home” With Him Everywhere He Travels

George Russell looks alive and alert in our interview, but you would never guess that he’s fresh off the jet. The British Formula 1 driver—and his other 19 competitors, including teammate Lewis Hamilton —are back in action at Austin, Texas after a month-long break. Despite a back-to-back schedule with press and brand obligations, George is cool, calm, and collected even as he fumbles over his words after a long day of interviews.

“The season has been relentless but coming to Austin, it’s such a great city,” said the 26-year-old Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS driver, last month. “It’s so vibrant [here]. Everyone is excited to see F1 and as drivers, you really feel that support and love for the sport, coupled with the fact that [COTA] is such a great circuit.”

Teams are scrambling to finish off the season with a bang—or as high up on the Constructors’ Championship as possible. In Austin, Mercedes came back with new parts to the car for the weekend, hoping to secure a victory—if not, a podium—under their belts.

“The team has been working so hard back at the factory to bring some new upgrades, and hopefully, it’s going to make the car faster,” George says. “There’s a lot of intrigue in our team to see how that will perform. The competition is so tough at the moment—the McLaren’s are fast but we hope to fight for a podium. Though we’re always aiming for that victory, we’ll have to be realistic and see where we will fall out [on the grid]. But I’m sitting here right now on a Thursday full of optimism and motivation.”

Even with new-and-improved upgrades to the cars, George ended in 6th place with a five-second penalty , and Lewis’s spin off track disqualified him from the race. Mercedes were understandably looking to recover from an unfortunate weekend. The following week was the Mexico Grand Prix which fared better for the team, with Lewis in 5th and Geroge in 6th. The Brazilian Grand Prix weekend is now underway, and competition at the top is leaving much to anticipate with the final four races left to the season.

“The season is so close at the moment between us, Red Bull, Ferrari, and McLaren. You only need one tenth of a second and it swings the result substantially,” George says. “In the past, you could be quite confident saying, ‘I believe this [race] is going to suit us and we’re gonna be on course for a good weekend.’ But now, because it’s so close between everyone, it’s difficult to predict. So, we’re going into every race believing that this can be our weekend to step on the top step of the podium."

Though Mercedes isn’t in a position to fight for the championship this year, the driver mentions that the last few race weekends are optimal for experimenting with different strategies.

“Unfortunately, we’re not in a position to fight for the championship this year, but we hope next year that we are, and that means we need to maximize these last races,” he says. “These races are our last chance before the new season next year and we want to be hitting the ground running to take the pressure off us so we can go out there and really enjoy it.”

The British driver still has a lot of jetting left to do, and that includes traveling with a few essentials: Sunglasses to “avoid the lights” and aid with sleep when he settles onto the plane, and a pillow straight from home. “I have the exact same pillow as I have in my bed at home,” he says. “Bringing a piece of home with me really helps.”

And in between catching flights and hitting the track, you’ll find George at a Marriott hotel—or maybe, his face plastered on a screen. “I gave my brother a bit of a scare once when he arrived at a hotel,” he says. “He just heard me talking in the background, and he thought he accidentally called me, but realized it was actually from a screen.”