Having grown up in racing together, George Russell and Alex Albon have developed a close friendship. This continued when they both made it to F1 in 2019 and they began spending time off the track too. But when Albon started dating Lily Muni He, he decided to ditch Russell for her.
In an unearthed video uploaded on X (formerly Twitter), the current Williams driver was speaking to Sky Sports about Lily. He disclosed a story about the early days of his relationship with the professional golfer.
“George will tell you this,” Albon said. “We were planning on a lads’ holiday. I, kind of, left them hanging for a week because I was with Lily, so, yeah, good times.”
Alex ditched George for the holidays to meet Lily for the first time, poor George his man preferred this beautiful woman (I understand Alex) pic.twitter.com/zbLe6HUyk4
— Nana (@lecomptedelee) September 24, 2024
Russell was not the only person on this ‘lads’ trip, but Albon did not disclose the names of the others who were involved. However, Albon prioritized Lily, with whom he has been for over five years now. In April earlier this year, Albon also visited Lily’s hometown Chengdu, in the Sichuan province of China. He visited her home and met her parents too.
However, Albon putting Lily ahead of Russell did not affect his relationship with the Mercedes driver. They remain good friends, thanks to a bond that they formed while growing up together.
Russell and Albon have been friends since childhood
Although Albon uses a Thai flag, he is half-British and grew up in the UK. There, he met Russell at a very young age while they were karting. Perhaps, their friendship never got affected because they raced in different age categories. Soon, the duo turned into a trio when they became friends with Lando Norris.
“Alex is the favorite, but I think we can catch them up”
Alex Albon, Lando Norris, and George Russell, an unbeatable combination pic.twitter.com/kDwUZGu4mZ
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) February 27, 2024
In 2018, they all shared the grid as rivals for the first time in F2. By the end of the season, they finished in the top three of the championship standings, with Russell in P1, 68 points ahead of Norris, while Albon finished seven points behind Norris.
All three drivers were promoted to F1 the following year. Albon joined Toro Rosso (now Red Bull), Russell signed with Williams, and Norris with McLaren.
