Mercedes driver George Russell has opened up about the \u201cconfusion\u201d he felt as a youngster as a result of his father\u2019s \u201chard\u201d treatment.<\/p>\n
It comes after it emerged that Russell has repaid the \u00a31.5million put aside by his parents to find his early racing career.<\/p>\n
George Russell repays parents \u00a31.5million for pre-F1 sacrifices<\/p>\n
Russell has enjoyed arguably his strongest season to date in F1 2025, culminating in his fourth career victory at the Canadian Grand Prix in June.<\/p>\n
As reported by PlanetF1.com<\/a>, the 27-year-old is set to be rewarded for his impressive start to the season with a new multi-year contract with Mercedes, committing him to the team until at least the end of the 2027 season.<\/p>\n It emerged earlier this year that Russell had repaid the \u00a31.5million his parents invested<\/a> in his early racing career, with his father Steve selling his seed and pulse business to help fund the Mercedes driver\u2019s first steps on the road to F1.<\/p>\n George Russell closing in on new Mercedes contract<\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49 F1 2025 driver salaries revealed: Who are the highest-paid drivers on the grid?<\/a><\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49 F1 driver contracts: What is the contract status of every driver on the F1 2025 grid?<\/a><\/p>\n And the King\u2019s Lynn-born driver has revealed how his father would push him as a child by giving Russell false laptimes during practice days, making him appear slower than he really was.<\/p>\n Asked how quickly he came to realise that he was a talented driver, he told the Untapped podcast, Russell said: \u201cI didn\u2019t know any different, to be honest, because I jumped in and I was winning races and I was fast.<\/p>\n \u201cI probably didn\u2019t know because my father was so hard on me. I always felt that I wasn\u2019t good enough for my father.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I used to do go-karting, at the time, there was no real data analysis. We didn\u2019t even have lap times on practice days. It was literally my father with a stopwatch.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I learned after about five years that he would always time me late, so my lap times looked slower than reality.<\/p>\n \u201cHe would tell me the lap times of the other drivers on practice days and I always thought I was slow.<\/p>\n \u201cThen I got to the races and I was qualifying on pole and winning races and I was so confused as a kid.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d think: \u2018I\u2019m always slow on these practice days, but then I get to the races and I win. Why is that?\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cI realised over time that he would always do that just so I didn\u2019t get too full of myself or overly confident, and that was such an amazing, important lesson for me.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019d leave before I woke up to go to school, wouldn\u2019t be back until eight or nine in the evening and I\u2019d already be in bed.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I wouldn\u2019t see my father during the week. We\u2019d then jump in the van on a Friday night and go up and down the country.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd if the race weekend wasn\u2019t good, he\u2019d be screaming and shouting and really pushing me hard.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a young kid, I was thinking: \u2018I don\u2019t see my father. And when I do see him, he\u2019s upset with me and I feel like I\u2019m letting him down.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cThat was really tough.<\/p>\n \u201cBut it\u2019s only when I was about 17 years old that I recognised, not just the financial investment, which is one thing, but the investment in time that he put into me.<\/p>\n \u201cHe had to work his a**e off to give me that opportunity.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd then whenever he had a spare moment, he was taking me here, there, and everywhere.<\/p>\n \u201cI can only imagine the pressure and stress he must have been under himself.<\/p>\n \u201cUltimately, those years from the age of seven to 13 shaped me as a person and I have him to thank for that.\u201d<\/p>\n More on George Russell and Mercedes from PlanetF1.com<\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49 George Russell news<\/a><\/p>\n