Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes team-mate George Russell looks unrecognisable as cute schoolkid in cute throwback photo

MERCEDES have shared an adorable picture of George Russell as a young boy.

The 24-year-old racer moved from Williams for the start of the 2022 season and currently leads team-mate Lewis Hamilton by 12 points in the drivers’ championship.

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But years before his F1 career began, the British driver was rocking a cute fringe and light blonde hair.

Mercedes posted the throwback snap on Instagram alongside some more recent pictures.

And they added the caption: “George William Russell. The glow up. .”

Fans of the British driver were loving the photo of a young Russell from back in the day.

George Russell Instagram

This picture of Russell as a kid was shared by Mercedes on social media[/caption]

One person said: “Little George is adorable,” while another added: “The legend Russell”.

And a third social media user said: “Mercedes admin knows what’s up ”.

Russell has already secured five podiums so far this season, although he is yet to finish in the top two.

The former Williams driver had a healthy lead over seven-time champion Hamilton a couple of months ago.

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But Hamilton, 37, has come roaring back with five podiums in a row – including back-to-back second places in France and Hungary before the summer break.

Meanwhile, Russell came out earlier this week and accused rivals Ferrari and Red Bull of “pushing F1 rules”.

He told Sky Sports: “Spa is going to be interesting. There are some changes to some of the regulations which may bring other teams towards us.

“I think we as a team have a lot of confidence in ourselves and faith that we are doing a great job and there’s no reason we can’t be in the mix.

“There is no doubt Ferrari and Red Bull have pushed the regulations in that regard and we have respected it as the regulation was intended.

“There’s no guarantee that it would bring them closer to us. We know if it was on our car it would make us slower.

“There’s no guarantees, every car is different but it’s not going to help them that’s for sure.”