Formula 2 champion Russell stepped up to F1 in 2019 alongside fellow British rookies Lando Norris (McLaren) and Alex Albon (Red Bull).

Albon, who stepped up to Red Bull from Toro Rosso mid-season, emerged as top rookie runner in eighth in the standings, with Norris just missing out on the top 10 while Russell struggled to last in the standings in an uncompetitive Williams.

All three grew up racing each other through their karting and junior formulae careers and followed similar paths in leaving school early to focus on racing - something Russell admits simply "felt like the norm" and "nothing special" as they worked their way towards F1.

"We all left school early, took a big sacrifice there, none of us were out partying and drinking through our teen years,"my own.

“It was hard to get much banter with my dad in the early years as he was in prison for robbery.

“It wasn’t hard to get close to Richard. My dad was a man’s man whereas Richard definitely loved the company of ladies. He would rather stand and talk with a group of ladies in the bar, whereas my dad would be with the blokes and the beers.”

But despite the differences in their personalities, Lorraine found there were some eerie parallels between the deaths of her two dads.

She attended three-times-married ­Richard’s funeral in May and was amazed to discover that, despite the actor having lived for years in Knighton in the Welsh borders, it was being held in Mortlake, south-west London – at the ­crematorium where she had