George Russell may be unlucky in his quest for a first Grand Prix win in 2025 – but he’s certainly been lucky when finding love.
The 27-year-old has been with his influencer girlfriend Montero Mundt since 2020 – though it wasn’t him who was originally scheduled for the date.
It turned out that a friend of Russell’s was to meet the 26-year-old, but he was unable to attend the date with the Spaniard.
Russell stepped in instead, which ultimately turned out to be the best decision of his life.
The pair bonded over Mundt’s hometown of Jerez, where Russell raced in his karting days.
The Mercedes driver told The Sun: “My mate couldn’t make it, so I thought I’ll swing along to see how it goes.
“She told me she’s from the south of Spain and she wouldn’t ever expect someone to know the small place she’s from.
“I knew exactly where she was from, so it was quite coincidental.”
And while Mundt attends almost every race of Russell’s, she had no idea who he was prior to their first date.
Russell revealed: “I’m so fortunate with Carmen because we met before the craziness of F 1. We met organically and it wasn’t a set up.
“She didn’t know who I was, she didn’t know F 1 and wasn’t even bothered by any of that. She is a very down-to-earth individual and we share values.
“She’s such a hard worker, wants to achieve so much and she really recognises what it takes in my position to be at this level.
“Having her on this journey means an awful lot to me because even though we are living our dream it can be a lonely lifestyle.
“Having somebody to help you disconnect from that actually brings performance as well.”
For Russell, his attention will be on Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix where he is looking to claim his third podium from the opening four races.
He finished third in both the Australian and Chinese Grand Prix, before coming home in fifth spot in Japan last week.
He currently sits fourth in the Drivers’ Championship standing – 17 points behind British compatriot Lando Norris.
And he remains desperate to fulfil his ambition of becoming a world champion – despite coming up short in recent years.
Pressed as to whether he is satisfied with his progress since joining Mercedes in 2022, Russell remarked: “Yes and no.
“Because I want to be a world champion, I want to be fighting every year.
“But it would be irrational of me to say I’m not where I want to be, because in these past five years I could not have fought for a world championship.
“I didn’t have the machinery to do that, the same way as Lando [at McLaren] for two years did not have the machinery and now he does.”
Though he remains confident in his abilities despite question marks raised over him by fans, as he stated: “I’m not underestimated by the people that know me in this paddock.
“The paddock knows what I’m capable of and that’s why I remind myself of my very first race with Mercedes five years ago.
“I have been team-mates with the greatest of all time [Lewis Hamilton] for three years.
“And my stats speak for themselves, so I don’t think anybody in the sport should underestimate me.”
