Mercedes driver George Russell revealed that a magnifying mirror kept in his mother’s room led to his house catching fire.
Russell is one of the biggest talents in F1 today. The Brit made his debut for Williams back in 2019 and spent three seasons with the team. Ahead of this season, however, he made the long-awaited switch to Mercedes, a team he has been closely associated with for a long time.
Russell recently appeared in a podcast where he shared a scary incident that happened to him a few years ago. The host of the podcast asked the 24-year-old, what possession he would save if his house ever ‘hypothetically’ caught fire. To their surprise, Russell started narrating an incident where his house actually did catch fire.
“In a way it feels like returning home to people I have known for such a long time”
🗣 @GeorgeRussell63 opens up in his first interview since joining @MercedesAMGF1 full-time #F1 https://t.co/v9E4ye7fQL
— Formula 1 (@F1) February 16, 2022
He revealed that a house they lived in a few years ago, accidentally caught fire due to a magnifying mirror. This incident took place in the month of April and Russell said it was a very hot day.
“My mother had a magnifying glass,” he said. “Mirror, one of those magnifying mirrors that she had on her dressing table. And the sunlight beaming in through the window reflected on the mirror and onto the curtain and set fire!”
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Aerosol cans kept in the room started to explode with the fire, reveals George Russell
Russell continued the story by saying how he was in another room when the fire broke out. What made things even more scary was the fact that there were aerosol containers (which are highly inflammable) on the dressing table.
Once the fire from the curtain spread to the table, the aerosol cans burst out completely. Russell could hear them, and admits that it really scared him.
“Boom, the whole thing just exploded!” Russell continues. “We had a fire. I was in the room directly above the one where it exploded. And the stupid part about me was when I walked upstairs before, I kind of smelled fire.”
“Five minutes later, the explosion took place. I just ran out of the place!” the Mercedes driver added.
Russell finally answered his host’s question thereafter. The 24-year-old said that he would save his F2 Championship winning helmet from his list of prized possessions in case his house caught fire again.
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