Damon Hill drops 3-word reaction to George Russell pulling the curtain on his rough upbringing

1996 F1 champion Damon Hill made a concise reaction to George Russell, revealing his rough upbringing in the junior racing ladder when his dad used to be his timekeeper. The Mercedes driver had his father closely involved in his racing venture until the German giant took over the baton to guide the young Briton to F1.

Russell is a proven race winner in the F1 grid, but his climb to the premier open-wheel racing series was not easy. Before Mercedes joined the scene, the Briton's racing career was largely funded by his family, which included his father, who played several key roles for his son.

One such role was that of timekeeping, which his dad used to do during practice days. But, with his father using a traditional stopwatch, Russell's lap time on paper was slower than his rivals.

Elaborating about his dad's role in his early racing days, Russell said:

"My father was so hard on me. We didn't have lap times on practice days. It was literally my father with a stopwatch. And I learned after about five years that he would always time me late. So my lap lap times looked slower than really, he would tell me the lap times of the other drivers on practice days, and I always thought I was slow... It was only when I signed with Mercedes at 17, he almost was like handing the baton over."

Subsequently, Damon Hill reacted to George Russell's statement on his Instagram, as he captioned his story:

"Well done Dad 👏🏻"

Damon Hill's reaction to George Russell sharing his story about his junior racing days | Source: Instagram/@96f1champ

On the other hand, Russell was able to move up to F1 with the help of Mercedes and became a driver for the team in 2022, and has been going strong ever since.

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George Russell reflects on his P5 qualification for the Sprint race in the United States

George Russell driving the Mercedes W16 during the Sprint qualifying session for the United States GP race weekend - Source: Getty

George Russell is one of the four drivers to have won multiple races this year. Moreover, he arrived at the United States GP after claiming a stellar victory in Singapore.

However, this momentum has seemingly tapered off at the start of the race weekend in Texas. He qualified fifth for the Sprint race, behind Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg.

So, sharing his thoughts on how it is tricky to hit the ground running on Sprint race weekends, he looks to improve the car for qualifying and Sunday's race, as he said (via F1's official website):

"We also know it can be tricky to hit the ground running on Sprint weekends so we will do what we can in the Sprint race itself and then look to improve the car for qualifying and Sunday’s race."

Russell sits fourth in the interim drivers' standings, having amassed 237 points in the 2025 season so far.