George Russell is the latest British driver in Formula 1

There’s a new Brit in Formula 1. Meet George Russell, the 20-year-old who’s just been signed up by Williams Racing and who’ll make his debut when the 2019 F1 season kicks off in Australia in March.

His path to the sport is via the tried-and-tested route of karting followed by single seaters. He won the Formula 4 Championship at his first attempt, aged 16, a trick he repeated when he won his rookie season in GP3, aged 19.

This year, Russell’s been competing in Formula 2 – a series he currently leads – while being a test and reserve driver at Mercedes-AMG’s F1 team. No wonder he’s been snapped up full-time in F1, then.

“Formula 1 has been a life-long dream,” says Russell. “From watching the races when I was a child, it feels surreal that I will now be lining up on the grid, alongside drivers whom I have admired for years.

“I cannot wait for Melbourne next year and to join Williams at the start of what we all believe will be the start of an exciting new journey.”

As it stands, Formula 1 will have three British drivers next year, with Russell sharing the paddock with Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton, the latter someone he’s been learning from while affiliated with Mercedes.

Which ought to build up excitement around Russell even more. Reckon by the time Hamilton’s retiring we’ll have a new British hero to spur on?