George Russell has revealed that he still carries physical scars from his extraordinary Mercedes debut at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix. Called up to replace Lewis Hamilton during the Covid-affected season, the British driver had to squeeze into a Formula 1 car designed around two considerably shorter drivers and even wear shoes two sizes too small.
Today, George Russell has seven Grand Prix victories and remains in contention for the 2026 world championship, albeit as one of the chasing drivers in the current Formula 1 standings. Even so, his first race for Mercedes during the chaotic 2020 campaign remains one of the defining moments of his career.
George Russell’s 2020 Mercedes debut nearly delivered victory
Mercedes called George Russell up for the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix after newly crowned seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton was ruled out by Covid. Despite having very little preparation, George Russell immediately produced an impressive demonstration of his talent.
George Russell narrowly missed pole position, losing out to Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas by only 0.026 seconds, before taking control of the race. However, a remarkable pit-stop error denied him the chance to win. During the confusion of a double pit stop, the Mercedes mechanics fitted Valtteri Bottas’s tyres to George Russell’s car. A later puncture then prevented George Russell from completing a recovery that had already carried him from fifth back into second place.
During a lengthy recent interview on the SAP Significant Figures programme, broadcast on YouTube, George Russell revealed an unusual detail from that weekend in Bahrain. The experience left a lasting mark on him in a very literal sense.
Why George Russell could not fit into the Mercedes cockpit
“I received the call on Tuesday. On Wednesday, I got into the car to see whether I fitted, but I didn’t,” George Russell explained. “The two drivers at the time were Lewis and Valtteri Bottas, who are definitely much shorter than me.”
At 185 centimetres tall, George Russell is one of the tallest drivers on the Formula 1 grid and stands 11 centimetres taller than Lewis Hamilton, the driver he was replacing. Valtteri Bottas, the other Mercedes driver at the time, is also considerably shorter at 173 centimetres. In a tightly packaged Formula 1 cockpit, those differences were far from insignificant.
Smaller shoes and scars from the cockpit
“I also have quite big feet, which creates a certain amount of discomfort in a Formula 1 car,” added George Russell, who was driving for Williams at the time. “I was scrunched up, bent forward and my shoes didn’t fit. I wear size 45 and I had to wear size 43 shoes to be able to fit.”
Despite the extremely uncomfortable driving position, George Russell was determined not to reveal the full extent of the problem to the mechanics preparing the car for him.
“They were asking me, ‘Is it okay?’ And I replied, ‘Yes, everything is fine. No problem, no problem.’ Inside, I was thinking, ‘I’m going to drive, whatever it costs, I’m driving this weekend.’ I still have the scars on my hips,” George Russell said.
Sakhir performance secured George Russell’s Mercedes future
Although the Sakhir Grand Prix ended in crushing disappointment, George Russell had done enough to demonstrate his ability to Toto Wolff. In 2022, George Russell finally became a full-time Mercedes driver, beginning the next phase of a career that would ultimately place him in a Formula 1 title fight.
“That was my first opportunity,” George Russell concluded. “Until then, I had never scored a point in my entire career because we were incredibly slow at Williams. I was on course to win the race and then everything was taken away from me. It was tough, but I also knew that what I had demonstrated in that race would be enough to secure my future with this team.
“I knew my moment would come. Of course, perhaps if my career had ended the following year because of an injury or something like that, and I had never won a Formula 1 race, it would have stayed with me for the rest of my life.”
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