Russell’s best meme moments in F1 as Mercedes man turns 28

George Russell has had plenty of highlights through his seven seasons in Formula 1 so far – five victories and 24 podiums are just some of the accolades he has to shout about.

But, away from the track, his personality and sense of fun have captivated fans just as much. To mark his 28th birthday, we've looked back at six of Russell's best meme moments – from his early PowerPoint days to his iconic celebration pose.

The T-pose

Cast your minds back to the beginning of the 2023 season where, during the opening credits of the TV broadcast, Russell came into view with his head down and his arms outstretched in a ‘T’. He slowly raised his head to stare down the camera in perhaps the most dramatic driver intro out of the whole grid – and from that moment on, a meme was born.

The joys of a green screen meant that fans have been editing Russell T-posing into various scenarios, but the Briton has absolutely embraced the stance. He recreated the pose for the 2025 title sequence and even used it as a celebration for his Canada and Singapore race wins.

However, this now-iconic pose wasn’t actually by design. Speaking on The Fast and the Curious podcast, Russell admitted it came about during a brief pause between standard media-day shots, when he rested his hands on the LED boards and dropped his head while the crew reset. The videographer immediately asked him to do it again – and the rest is history.

Radio Russell

Russell is never shy to share his feelings on team radio – but some of his comments within the car have made for some memorable moments. For example, the pure elation when the then-Williams driver qualified P2 during a rain-affected session in Belgium was unforgettable.

Somehow, the Briton topped that reaction when he took his first pole in Hungary, screaming down the microphone, “Come on!” over and over again.

But, there's also his most famous message of all – when the Briton mistook his sweat for rain during the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix.

Photobombing

Throughout his time on the grid, Russell has had plenty of hilarious photobomb moments over race weekends.

Whether he’s on the grid, at the Drivers’ Parade, or on the podium, there is not one camera shot that is safe from a surprise Russell appearance. Fans on social media are always on the lookout for their favourite photobomber.

Popular PowerPoints

One of Russell’s first viral moments came in his rookie season back in 2019. The top three from the 2018 F2 Championship, Russell, Lando Norris, and Alex Albon all graduated to F1 the following year, leading to a close race for Rookie of the Year that season.

So, each of them argued their case in a truly iconic video. Albon wrote a poem, Norris showed off his editing skills with a video, but Russell went back to basics with a signature PowerPoint presentation.

It wasn’t an easy task for the Briton, who had endured a difficult rookie campaign with Williams, but he gave it his best shot while the other two looked unimpressed with his ‘facts’.

Russell and PowerPoint presentations go way back, as Toto Wolff was convinced to sign the then 16-year-old to the Mercedes driver academy off the back of a similarly impressive pitch.

Shirtless Shenanigans

Russell's Instagram is the place to see his fashionable fits, post-race thoughts, and off-season antics, but fans have picked up a not-so-subtle trend appearing on his feed – Russell is prone to a shirtless picture (or two).

The Mercedes man's good friend Albon seems to have a slightly different attitude to Russell's fans when it comes to seeing his pal posing shirtless though. He rarely misses an opportunity to poke fun in the comments!

Twitch tomfoolery

With racing suspended in early 2020 amid the COVID pandemic, Russell joined three other drivers as they streamed some of their favourite games online for everyone to watch. The Briton teamed up with friends Albon, Norris and Charles Leclerc, as they became known as the ‘Twitch Quartet’, producing some memorable content along the way.

Press conference mischief

Every time Russell steps into the press conference room pre- or post-race weekend, you can always count on him to provide some social media gold, whether its stitching up the other drivers or providing himself with some extra entertainment.

For example, at the 2025 Bahrain Grand Prix, he stitched up Norris with a certain post to his Instagram page...

George Russell is the type of guy...

Back in 2022, Russell became the face of yet another viral online trend. Poking fun at his British quirks, social media created hundreds of posts which all started, ‘George Russell is the type of guy...’.

Russell took it all in good faith, reacting to some of the best of them – it certainly won’t be the last trend featuring the Mercedes man!