George Russell left visibly shaken in scary behind-the-scenes footage from F1 race

Behind-the-scenes footage captured from the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix showed struggling to keep his breathing under control as he was comforted by a staff member. The Brit was visibly emotional when discussing the impact that the race had on his physical health. The Singapore Grand Prix is marked out every year as one of the standout races on the F1 calendar. The event was the series’ original night race and is also the most extreme in terms of cockpit conditions.

Temperatures within the cars can reach staggering highs of 60 degrees Celsius. After the 2024 edition of the race, in which Russell crossed the line in P4, the 27-year-old was struggling significantly with the conditions. After walking away from the track with his trainer, he said: “I don’t feel good,” and was told: “Everybody is struggling.”

He continued to grimace in discomfort and said: “All my skin is like tingling.” When back at his motorhome, Russell climbed into the ice bath and, with a traumatised look on his face, told his partner, Carmen Montero Mundt, “It was sixty degrees in there. I feel really sick.”

The cameras were then shut out of the room, but microphones picked up Russell gasping for air while his trainer urged him: “Hey, slow the breathing. Slow the breathing, slow the breathing. That’s it, that’s it.”

Later, in his hotel, a shaken Russell explained: “My body totally overheated. I lost four kilos in that race. It is only afterwards, when you get out, that you realise that was pretty serious what we all did there. I think that sort of hit me a little bit. And that’s racing.”

Russell wasn’t the only driver who struggled with the Singapore heat. team-mate joined the Brit in skipping media duties after the Grand Prix, instead undergoing medical treatment for heat-induced struggles.

“They are both suffering from overheating, but they are fine now,” team principal said later on Sunday in an update to the media. “They put themselves in the ice baths, and I think that helped a bit.”

Russell’s story is an example of the strain that F1 drivers put their bodies through during Grand Prix weekends. In similarly brutal conditions at the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix, several racers required medical attention after the chequered flag.

Williams driver was forced to retire due to heatstroke symptoms, while vomited in his helmet during the opening stint of the race. Both and were taken to the medical centre after stumbling out of their cars.