George Russell's scraps on karting circuit helped mould young driver who has taken F1 by storm

To his new-found admirers, George Russell is the Mercedes rookie in a hurry, vanquishing Lewis Hamilton at six races in succession. But to Ben Barnicoat, he is frozen in time as a teenage torment, the driver with whom he waged such a ferocious karting rivalry that the pair did not even speak for four years. He has known Formula One’s latest sensation so long, he can still picture their days duelling as eight-year-old cadets, and being treated by Russell’s mother Alison to a Marks & Spencer smoothie in King’s Lynn. “I drank mine there and dropped the bottle,” he recalls. “It smashed all over the floor.”

Listen carefully and Barnicoat’s name is seldom far from the top drivers’ lips. Russell has identified him, without hesitation, as his “biggest rival” en route to cementing his place in F1. Charles Leclerc has reflected that Barnicoat had, in his view, all the talent to graduate to the highest level. For the man himself, the original dream did not materialise. While Russell’s weekend will be framed by the twinkling turquoise waters of Monte Carlo, Barnicoat will be toiling in sports cars in North Carolina. Through it all, theirs is a bond built to last.

They met recently in Miami, where Russell let slip his intention to postpone relocating to Monaco, despite the evident tax advantages. “We spoke about the whole issue then,” Barnicoat says. “It seems like George is going to delay it. Coming from a lovely family, in beautiful countryside in the UK, I think he appreciates that lifestyle and would prefer it to a small Monaco apartment. He’s more of a homebody than some of the other guys.”

The wholesome public image should not disguise Russell’s remorseless determination as a racer. His elevation from Williams to Mercedes is but one feature of his warp-speed rise: in a season where Toto Wolff has described the car as “undrivable”, he remains the only driver to have finished in the top five at all six grands prix, amassing 74 points to Hamilton’s 46. As smooth at 200mph as he is in his interviews, he is yet to betray any weakness. If Hamilton is expecting his young team-mate to break during this sprawling 23-race season, he could be gravely mistaken.

“He’s incredibly consistent,” Barnicoat explains. “When we were younger, I was the one who would take greater risks, but be punished a little more. George would settle for second or third more often. That’s why he would always be in the title frame. He has made zero mistakes at Mercedes so far. That’s crucial: look how far he is ahead of Hamilton. If Mercedes turn it around and suddenly have a strong car, they’re going to back him for the championship instead of Hamilton. He has put himself in position to be their lead guy.”

Even as an avid student of Russell’s mentality, Barnicoat is struck by how little he appears perturbed by the Hamilton aura. “It’s not just that he’s going up against a seven-time world champion,” he argues. “When George and I were starting out, Hamilton had just won his first world title. He was our hero. George is facing somebody who was our initial motivation to race. I had the Hamilton T-shirt and cap. As much as that fades away as you get older, I’m sure that, when you’re sitting in a room for a debrief alongside Lewis, there’s a sense of ‘oh my God.’ To take that in your stride, as George has, is an impressive feat. It requires huge mental strength.”

Not that Russell was always averse to a spot of skulduggery behind the wheel. At 10, one of his last-gasp manoeuvres reduced his old nemesis to tears. “George and I had a coming-together at the PFI circuit, in Lincolnshire, on the final lap of the British karting grand prix,” Barnicoat says. “I was in the lead and he squeezed me out on to the grass. I shouted and cried at him afterwards. There it was, an instant rivalry. We hated each other throughout our early teens. We didn’t speak again until we were 15, and even then it was only because we were forced to, when we both found ourselves nominated for the same award.”

At 25, one year Russell’s senior, Barnicoat still harbours restless ambitions. He remains wedded to a long-term project of winning both the Le Mans and Daytona 24 Hours, declaring that he wants to be “one of the all-time greats of sports car racing”. There is little sign of lingering envy at the vast riches that Russell or Leclerc, his long-time peers, are poised to accumulate. Still, he does highlight how capricious fate can be at the summit of motor racing.

“In 2016, my first season in Formula Three, I was team-mates with George. I won races, but at the end of the year the Racing Steps Foundation, which had backed me, just stopped. I didn’t have any more funds. I come from a normal family in Chesterfield – there wasn’t money behind me to keep going in single-seaters.

“F1 is a financial game as well as a talent game. If I’d have had another £20 million behind me, who’s to say I wouldn’t be there? My F1 dream’s over and done with now. I’m fine with it. I’m proud of what I’ve achieved, although there is still that, ‘What if?’” As he watches Russell, he recognises that their careers have long since diverged. But he can be consoled that his old adversary, a world champion-in-waiting, will always remember how their scraps helped propel him along the path to glory.

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