George Russell unmasked himself as Mexico’s most unexpected fan so he could watch Formula One from the stands

Popular Formula 1 superstar George Russell became the most unexpected fan – he put on a Mexican Lucha mask and watched the F1 action from the stands.

Although the monetary bonuses can be difficult to get your head around, sometimes, being famous must be exhausting.

With cameras pointed in your direction at every second of the day, how do they find the time to kick back and enjoy their hobbies? Especially F1 drivers on race weekends.

Well, how about a disguise…

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George Russell goes undercover to watch Formula 1 in peace.

Having quickly found himself to be the British poster boy of Formula 1, even ahead of Championship-leader Lando Norris, George Russell’s lavish lifestyle attracts a lot of attention.

Whether it’s collecting wild supercars like his ‘dream’ $2.7M Mercedes-AMG ONE, or kicking back in the F1 season breaks with the comforts of his equally expensive Monaco-bound superyacht, the F1 racer embodies the sport’s wealthy personality.

So, in a bid to escape the paparazzi and adoring fans, and to enjoy watching the sport he loves so much, he masked up and headed into the Mexico GP in an uncanny disguise.

With a green ‘máscara’ – the mask donned by the likes of Lucha Libre, El Santo, and Rey Mysterio – he slipped by security and took a seat in the Stadium section of the circuit, watching his car drive past.

This was all possible because Mercedes gave the first practice round at the Mexico Grand Prix to their reserve driver, Frederik Vesti.

It’s a common practice to give the young guns a run out on track, but it’s less common to see the real driver take to the stands for that birdseye fan-cam view.

“I enjoyed that a lot, to be honest,” he said.

“I’ve not been able to watch F1 cars on track for years and years and years, so it was cool – good to see what everyone else sees.”

He’s not the first to go undercover on race day

With constant discussion about what the future holds for drivers like George Russell, finding a moment’s peace to enjoy the sound of race cars whizzing by is quite a rarity.

This isn’t the first time that we’ve seen racers don disguises and hide away.

Lewis Hamilton took a similar approach to go unnoticed at his brother’s British Touring Car Championship event.

Nicholas Hamilton had his brother in support, but it was through the guise of a large sweatshirt and ski mask to ensure the occasion wasn’t spoiled.

Back on track at the Mexico Grand Prix, though, Russell went largely unnoticed for the race, having a lot of conflict with his own team management during the race, disagreeing on strategy.

Finishing P7, it mathematically withdrew Russell from contention for the F1 Drivers’ Championship, although it was a mere formality.

Still, Russell has enjoyed a positive year as the first-seat Mercedes driver, and with his future committed, he will hope retrospectives like this will give him a chance to tweak any flaws and launch an attack on McLaren in 2026.

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