George Russell Talks Formula One Paddock Style, Watches, and More

George Russell isn’t your typical fashion person. He didn’t grow up interested in style, reading up on designers, or spending his off time tearing through vintage stores across the UK. According to the British Mercedes-AMG Petronas driver, before he entered Formula One in 2019, it never even occurred to him to care about fashion. “I grew up in a very small village with not many people around,” he tells me over Zoom during an IWC Schaffhausen event celebrating the custom racing suit the timekeeper designed for Russell and his teammate, Kimi Antonelli, for the United States Grand Prix in Austin. “We lived in the country, so fashion was not even thought of.” Driving in modern-day F1, though, has a way of bringing out style in people. Six years into his career in the pinnacle of motorsport, Russell now finds himself confident in front of the paddock’s many cameras—sunglasses on, relaxed curls out, wearing a preppy-cool ensemble that perfectly encapsulates his personal style.

If you ask any F1 fashion fan on TikTok, they’ll probably trace back Russell’s sartorial “glow-up” to the sport’s summer break in 2023. It was around then that he became a global brand ambassador for Tommy Hilfiger, his team’s former official clothing partner until this season, when Adidas took over. When F1 returned in August, Russell’s usual coiffed hair was loose and casual, and he had on an unbuttoned plaid shirt and khakis. Instead of just wearing his team kit to races, he began wearing sophisticated ensembles that felt true to him while still being unexpected for someone who hadn’t previously experimented with fashion during race weekends. Each stop on the F1 calendar brought more looks, and slowly but surely, Russell’s signature look took form. “I wouldn’t say I’m pushing the boat out, because it’s still been reasonably conservative, but I’m wearing looks that I definitely would not have picked off the shelf initially,” he says.

Adidas‘s joining the team in 2025 introduced an added air of cool casualness to Russell’s style. He was recently spotted in disguise at the Mexico City Grand Prix wearing a sold-out bomber jacket from the brand’s collaboration with Bad Bunny, and suede Sambas have become his go-to paddock shoe. And then there’s his ever-changing watch collection, all of which comes from IWC. Keep scrolling to read through our full conversation, which touches on everything from Russell’s go-to everyday timepiece to the end of his skinny-jeans phase.

Fashion and Formula 1 are undoubtedly intertwined, both now and in the past, with drivers like Ayrton Senna, Jacky Ickx, Michael Schumacher, and Lewis Hamilton all leaning into style in their own way. Before starting in F1, did you have any interest in fashion?