Logs as weights and old shelving units as a squat rack: How F1 driver George Russell is training from his parents’ Norfolk garage

The Williams driver is having to get creative with his personal trainer, writes Lawrence Ostlere, in order to stay in shape for the hidden demands of Formula One

George Russell: 'The thing I love about racing is the adrenaline' (Getty)

As a child, George Russell was a prodigiously talented racing driver. His name spread through the industry in whispers as trophies stacked up, and recognition soon followed. In 2015 Russell became the youngest ever recruit to the British Racing Drivers’ Club SuperStars scheme after winning their prestigious McLaren Autosport award, and a glamorous career in Formula One seemed an inevitable destiny. On the weekends he would travel around the country beating the very best, yet despite his achievements, back at Wisbech Grammar School his friends were a little harder to impress.

“As a kid my school mates all used to say to me, ‘Driving? My mum does that going to Tesco’,” Russell tells The Independent. “But it’s a bit different in reality. You enter a corner driving 200mph, with 50 or 60 kilos of force going through your head, just on your neck. If you imagine lying on your side and someone plonking 50 kilos on your head and having to hold that, it’s not easy.”

Russell is speaking from his parents’ home; while most F1 drivers are spending lockdown in their Monaco residences, it’s safe to assume the 22-year-old is the only one holing up in rural Norfolk. But amid the chaos of a 2020 F1 calendar facing potential wipeout, he senses some opportunity. The strange circumstances have given Russell the chance to spend longer with his parents and sister than any time since he was 17, and they have given him the time to learn something new: he has been reading books on engineering to sharpen the mechanical side of his racing brain, while he has found a novel way to replace the adrenaline rush. “I’ve been learning to juggle,” he says. “Just three balls so far, but it only took two or three days.”