In the footsteps of George Russell, new F1 winner

Tuesday February 1, 2022. 9 a.m. The village of Tydd St Giles is numb. Plunged into a half-sleep which has nothing to do with the early morning schedule of our arrival. As a central square, a beautiful church rests next to its tower, which fell in the 18th century under the weight of the wind and fragile foundations, a sad testimony to the marshy profile of this hamlet lulled by a prayer of tranquility. This is where our quest in the footsteps of George Russell begins. Because if he was born 15 miles away, in Kings Lynn, it was in this peaceful town in Fenland, the northernmost territory of Cambridgeshire, that he grew up and shaped himself.

Welcome to Tydd St Giles © John Rourke

A little over 1100 souls live in this very stretched out town, animated by a pub, a golf resort, a business... and then not much else. Well away from the center, on Broad Drove W, bumpy and far from everything, a few rare houses stand without numbers, but proudly bearing names. It is therefore thanks to its inscription engraved on the gate that we easily find the family home. That of George, his parents Steve and Alison, his brother Benjy and his sister Cara, is called Ashtree Barn. A very pretty red brick property (Welcome to England!), built around a completely renovated old farm, giving the place a charming soul between authenticity and modernity. On this agricultural land where potatoes are abundantly cultivated, barns are legion and are part of the landscape.

The church marks the central point of the village of Tydd St Giles © John Rourke

Although the Russells left home and village in 2013, as George began his career in car (16 years old), memories of the neighborhood are still vivid. If unfortunately, we were not able to collect those of the neighbors installed in the property