With the rising popularity of Formula 1 and its expanding fanbase, the drivers have become embedded in pop culture. Naturally, fans swarm to social media platforms to create and share memes of their favorite drivers.
In a recent segment on F1’s official YouTube channel, all the drivers were asked to pick one person between themselves and their teammates when it came to some contemporary questions.
When asked who is more likely to become an internet meme sensation overnight between the Williams pair of Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon, the British-Thai driver picked someone from the Mercedes camp instead—George Russell.
“I mean the best would be George. I think George is…it’s hard not to meme him,” he explained. But what is it with Russell often popping up in social media feeds as a part of some or the other meme?
Russell has provided some top-notch content to be the center of many F1-themed memes. Most recently, it was the standing ‘T-pose’ that caught the attention of fans online in F1’s 2023 introduction montage. The pose became so popular in memes that Russell started incorporating it into his victory celebrations and had to recreate it for the 2025 montage as well.
The T pose is back. pic.twitter.com/D9LrtSX27p
— George Russell (@GeorgeRussell63) June 8, 2024
Other than this, Russell broke the internet many times for his tendency to post shirtless pictures of himself on Instagram and even for the traditional British lingo that he uses ever so often. The King’s Lynn-born driver does have an inherently charming persona to attract attention on social media. So, Albon’s choice was spot on.
In the end, however, Albon stuck to the rules of the game and picked himself. Interestingly, his teammate, Sainz, also picked himself when asked the question. Sainz said, “Clearly people like to meme me on social media because of my strange faces!”
And it is true, the Madrid-born driver has an affinity with making spaced-out expressions whilst in front of the media or a camera in general. This has led to many fans making memes out of the #55 driver’s various ‘bored-looking’ expressions.
In many ways, Sainz was one of the pioneers of F1 memes with his VW Golf becoming a staple of F1-related social media jokes back in 2016.
Albon, too, has seen many memes emerge out of his time in the sport. Going into 2025, with Albon and Sainz being two of the most popular drivers on the grid, Williams can expect themselves to be featured in a considerable number of memes!
