Alex Albon Teases George Russell for Pitching Bag Deal Despite $15M Salary: “Not Like He’s Making Enough Money”

Alex Albon and George Russell have been sharing the grid since they were children competing in karts, dreaming of making it to F1 someday. Their relationship, as such, runs deep, and even though they race hard when pitted against each other on the track, there are still moments of camaraderie.

There’s also a lot of respect. Russell even went as far as calling Albon his “hero” in an interview last year. During their karting days, both he and Lando Norris were inspired by the Thai-British driver. “Lando and I looked up to Alex. Alex was our hero,” he said.

However, that doesn’t stop the banter between the two.

During the Japanese GP weekend this April, the Briton caught up with Albon at the hotel they were staying at and noticed the Williams driver’s backpack, which he really liked. In a video posted by the Grove-based outfit on YouTube, Russell recalled proposing a deal: “He just got a new one, so I’m like, can I have the old one?”

Albon burst into laughter, thinking Russell was joking, but the 27-year-old really wasn’t.

The Mercedes star remained persistent and asked Albon, “Can I?” on two occasions. Albon then teased Russell by pointing out how he wanted the bag for free despite making more than enough money.

“He’s jealous of my bag,” Albon hilariously replied. “It’s not like he’s making enough money“.

Russell is, in fact, making a lot of money — at least a lot more than Albon currently is. He earns $15 million a year at Mercedes, with rumors suggesting that the figure could be doubled before winter. Albon, meanwhile, makes $8 million — which, although not bad, isn’t as high as his friend’s salary.

Still, as far as the bag was concerned, Russell was having none of it. He continued pushing, only for Albon to keep shutting him down. When the 27-year-old realized he wasn’t going to succeed, he wished his counterpart a “good day,” with both going their separate ways.

But did Russell take his revenge by showing Albon something he could never get?

While they accidentally bumped into each other at their hotel in Suzuka, Russell and Albon also have planned meet-ups, with the most recent one coming in Monaco, where Russell showed him his Mercedes AMG-One.

Albon appeared to be amazed by it — and why wouldn’t he be? Costing $2.7 million, it’s an F1-inspired supercar of which only 277 models were produced. So even if Albon wanted one, he likely wouldn’t be able to get his hands on it.

A trade-off between the bag and the AMG-One on the cards?