George Russell revealed that painful experiences over his motorsport career have been the driver behind his involvement in the Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA) and not chasing a legacy of his own.
Russell has been an active and outspoken member of the GPDA since joining it back in 2021 while he was in his third Formula 1 season and driving for Williams.
He is joined by fellow driver Carlos Sainz, with former F1 driver Alex Wurz heading the GPDA while Anastasia Fowle acts as a legal representative.
Speaking to Motorsport.com, Russell explained the reason why he is involved with the GPDA; he said: "I'm not chasing to leave any legacy. That's never been the intention.
"It's just that if I see an opportunity to improve something, I want to speak about it, especially if it comes to track safety or car safety.
"In 2012 I was teammates with Billy Monger [who lost his legs in a British F4 crash in 2017] and had a close relationship with him. Seeing that crash live, and then watching Anthoine [Hubert]'s crash [at Spa 2019 in F2], I was watching that live. It was sickening to watch.
"When you experience things like this with people who you know so well, and you believe you have ideas that can help improve the safety or prevent that from happening, then you naturally want to share it.
"Again, Romain Grosjean's crash [in Bahrain 2020], I saw that," Russell recalled. "He was in front of me, and I passed him, and I still see the image in my head now. I looked in my mirror, and all I could see was flames. It took over my whole mirror.
"That could have happened to anyone. It could have happened to the greatest driver in the world. That's just the danger we face. So, I think that's probably why I wanted to be more involved than not," Russell concluded.
Russell currently is leading the Mercedes team after the departure of Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari. His contract runs out at the end of the season and is yet to be renewed. He recently finished third in the 2025 Hungarian Grand Prix.
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