George Russell makes ‘confused’ admission after £1.5million debt repaid
George Russell joined Mercedes at the start of the 2022 season
Mercedes driver George Russell has opened up about the “confusion” he felt as a youngster as a result of his father’s “hard” treatment.
It comes after it emerged that Russell has repaid the £1.5million put aside by his parents to find his early racing career.
George Russell repays parents £1.5million for pre-F1 sacrifices
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.
As reported by PlanetF1.com, 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.
It emerged earlier this year that Russell had repaid the £1.5million his parents invested in his early racing career, with his father Steve selling his seed and pulse business to help fund the Mercedes driver’s first steps on the road to F1.
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And the King’s 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.
Asked how quickly he came to realise that he was a talented driver, he told the Untapped podcast, Russell said: “I didn’t know any different, to be honest, because I jumped in and I was winning races and I was fast.
“I probably didn’t know because my father was so hard on me. I always felt that I wasn’t good enough for my father.
“When I used to do go-karting, at the time, there was no real data analysis. We didn’t even have lap times on practice days. It was literally my father with a stopwatch.
“And I learned after about five years that he would always time me late, so my lap times looked slower than reality.
“He would tell me the lap times of the other drivers on practice days and I always thought I was slow.
“Then I got to the races and I was qualifying on pole and winning races and I was so confused as a kid.
“I’d think: ‘I’m always slow on these practice days, but then I get to the races and I win. Why is that?’
“I realised over time that he would always do that just so I didn’t get too full of myself or overly confident, and that was such an amazing, important lesson for me.
“He’d leave before I woke up to go to school, wouldn’t be back until eight or nine in the evening and I’d already be in bed.
“So I wouldn’t see my father during the week. We’d then jump in the van on a Friday night and go up and down the country.
“And if the race weekend wasn’t good, he’d be screaming and shouting and really pushing me hard.
“As a young kid, I was thinking: ‘I don’t see my father. And when I do see him, he’s upset with me and I feel like I’m letting him down.’
“That was really tough.
“But it’s 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.
“He had to work his a**e off to give me that opportunity.
“And then whenever he had a spare moment, he was taking me here, there, and everywhere.
“I can only imagine the pressure and stress he must have been under himself.
“Ultimately, those years from the age of seven to 13 shaped me as a person and I have him to thank for that.”
More on George Russell and Mercedes from PlanetF1.com
Russell revealed that he enjoys a closer relationship with his father today, having cut professional ties to Mr Russell upon his arrival at Mercedes’ junior scheme aged 17.
He added: “It’s much better.
“And he’s there as a father as opposed to, at the time, being a mentor, a mechanic, the driver up and down the country, the investor. He was everything.
“And, of course, he was watching me grow as a kid and a teenager, wanting to give me this opportunity and putting everything on the line for it.
“It was only when I signed with Mercedes at 17 that it almost looked like he was handing the baton over.
“We had a really great chat when this happened and I told him my views – that I wanted him to be there as my father and not really anything further.
“That’s why, when they come to the races, they’re not standing there in front of the television. They’re keeping to themselves.
“They don’t want to take any spotlight or presence or interviews. They just want to be there as my parents.”
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