“He made my career”– George Russell agrees Alex Albon played pivotal role in making his F1 career

A couple of years younger than Alex Albon, George Russell got massive help from the former during his formative years in motorsport.

George Russell is finally reaching the pinnacle of the sport, with his next stint is going to be with none other than world champions Mercedes.

In his last three years with Williams, the Briton race driver impressed his bosses at Brackley that earned him this move. On the other hand, Alex Albon will be replacing him at Williams.

But recently, Russell confirmed Albon’s claim that his successor at Williams helped him massively in making his career in F1. Russell reveals how Albon, a couple of years senior to him, brought him under the radar of a karting giant team.

“That is a memory that has passed by on me, but I do recall,” said Russell during an episode of Motorsport Magazine Podcast. “So, in Trepid Driver Program was a team a manufacturer in go-karting in that between 2010 and 2013, they were the team to be with.”

“And they would do these days of assessment of a lot of drivers. Alex was their driver at the time. I arrived, they did a bit of an assessment. How do you fare against the world champion at the time, Alex Albon? So, he made my career,” said Russell.

Also read: Former Mercedes driver calls George Russell’s move to Silver Arrows a difficult decision as the risk is high

How Alex Albon picked George Russell

Albon, who previously appeared in the same podcast during a previous episode, revealed how he got to know about the new Mercedes driver. And he talks about how he later reported his talents to his superiors.

“I was the reference driver/ the one who they’d ask: ‘who should we choose for next year?’ I remember George was this young, young kid. We’re the same height now, but back then, he was much shorter than I was.”

“I think Charles joined later in the year, but George was already the quick one out of the guys. Everyone else I could just pull away and drive away but George.. he’s keeping up,” said Alex.

Also read: Silver Arrows rumoured to have replacement lined up for Lewis Hamilton just in case he retires

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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