From firing George’s passion to become a racing driver in the first place, through a tense evaluation for the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award to racing in Formula 1, the home of the British Grand Prix has been a pivotal location in the career of the young Mercedes ace
WORDS OLEG KARPOV PICTURES AND JAKOB EBREY
2009 British Grand Prix
“This was my very first grand prix, the very first time I went to Silverstone. I was standing on the edge of the circuit, Turn 1, Copse – the current Turn 9. I would have been 11 years old, racing in the cadet category in karts, it was called Comer Cadet then, and I was leading the championship. But it was there, standing on the outside of Copse, when I probably for the first time clearly realised I wanted to be a Formula 1 driver. I think the years prior I was too young to really know F1 and what exactly that was, I was just enjoying go-karting. But hearing the noise, the buzz, seeing the crowd… That’s when I was like, ‘Yeah, this is what I want to do.’”
2014 BRDC Formula 4 Championship, Round 1
“My very first-ever race in single-seaters, and my very first race at Silverstone.
“I remember a very special feeling. Just racing at Silverstone in a car like this... Silverstone just felt so big and wide. And it was almost surreal to be on a Formula 1 circuit in such a small Formula 4 car. I can’t remember the exact lap times, but probably around two minutes and five seconds, really slow. But that was the start of a new chapter in my career.
“This was the opening round of the championship and there were three races that weekend, and I believe I won two of them.”
2014 McLaren Autosport BRDC Award evaluation
“End of 2014, the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award [now the Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Award]. We, the British drivers, are very fortunate that the BRDC chose six drivers per season – aged, at the time, from 17 to, let’s say, 23-24, so young up-and-coming drivers – and they would give them a chance to do a shootout in a Formula 2 car, Mercedes DTM car and a McLaren GT car. And the driver who came out on top won £100,000 and a test in a McLaren Formula 1 car.
“I remember they actually had to change the rules because I was too young. I was 16, so I was the youngest driver ever to be nominated for this award. And actually, Mercedes, the DTM guys, were having some difficulties because they believed I was too young to be driving this DTM car.
“But yeah, that was an exceptional experience, driving an F2 car which felt so quick at the time, jumping from F4. The DTM car was cool to drive, almost like an F3 car. The GT car, very different – d
