Love Stories: How F1 star George Russell met his 'se?orita' Carmen Montero Mundt
By Merryn Porter |
B?ritish Formula One driver George Russell knows a thing or two about speed, having been racing around tracks since he was a young child.
But he is also one half of a super-stylish couple alongside his longtime girlfriend, Spanish-born, UK-based Carmen Montero Mundt.
So who is she, and what do we know about the photogenic pair and their relationship?
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?Russell was born in Norfolk, England, on February 15, 1998. He took up karting at seven, following in the footsteps of this older brother Benjy.
By 2009, three years after he started karting, he was both the MSA and British Open champion, before he moved up the various karting divisions, winning championships along the way.
From there he moved up the ranks, becoming Formula GP Three and Formula Two champion.
After winning the 2014 Autosport BRDC Award, he was awarded a Formula One test drive with McLaren, and by 2017 he was part of the Mercedes junior driver program.
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Russell, now 26, made his Formula One debut at the ?2019 Australian Grand Prix with the Williams team. The following year he earned his first World Championship points.
In 2022, he returned to Mercedes, where he is teammate of Lewis Hamilton, and had his first F1 victory that year at the S?o Paulo Grand Prix in Brazil.
Meanwhile, Mundt, who was born the same year as Russell, grew up in Spain before moving to the UK when she was 18.
She started studying at the University of Westminster, London, in 2018 and reportedly earned a degree in business management and finance, as well as a diploma in asset allocation and risk management from the University of Geneva.
During an Instagram Live appearance in which she answered questions, Mundt said she first met Russell in London through a mutual friend.
It is thought they began dating in 2020, with Mundt sharing her first photo of the pair together on Instagram in September of that year.
Mundt reportedly began working as an intern for London investment firm Ruffer LLP from September to December 2021.
The following January, she started work as an ?associate consultant at Delta Capita before returning to Ruffer LLP in June 2022 as an investor relations associate.
She left the position in October last year and announced on Instagram that she planned to return to her studies this year.
The always stylish couple has been photographed together a number of times. They also appear regularly on each other's Instagram accounts, where they detail their travels or life near their home in Monaco.
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In February 2021, Mundt, also 26, posted a photo of the pair on a seaside vacation.
They were photographed together at the September 2021 premiere of the James Bond movie No Time To Die in London.
In August 2022, Mundt posted a photo of the two embracing near a pool with the caption, 'Lucky me'.
A few months later, Russell shared a photo of the two of them on a day out in England with his more than 5.1 million Instagram followers.
?In 2023, they were photographed at a tennis match in Monaco in April, and at Wimbledon a few months later.
Mundt, who often accompanies Russell on tour and is regularly seen in the F1 paddock, has said she enjoys watching Russell race, while he said in an interview last year that she was "incredibly supportive."
Russell captioned a photo of the two of them in Spain last June, "Spanish sunset with my Se?orita."
He also shared a photo of them arriving at the Dutch Grand Prix in August last year.
His pride in his girlfriend was evident in a post in October 2023 of the pair in front of the Eiffel Tower. She was dressed in cycling gear beside a bike.
"300km from London to Paris having never ridden a road bike as of six weeks ago," he wrote, adding, "Super proud of you, well done my love!"
Most recently, they shared the same photo of themselves in front of a Christmas tree, writing, "Happy Holidays from us."?
Russell also shared a snap of the two of them to ring in the New Year.
He followed this up a few weeks later with a photo on the Austrian ski slopes alongside Mercedes team chief executive Toto Wolff and his wife Susie.
Russell will race alongside Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne this month.
We will have to wait and see if the ever-stylish Montero Mundt accompanies him to Australia.
