16/10/2025 15:15
George Russell has revealed the extraordinary lengths his father
went to early in his motorsport career to help him improve. The
Mercedes driver has penned a personal essay in The Players' Tribune
to chronicle his rise from karting through the junior formulae to
F1, where he has become a five-time grand prix winner. It is a
broad and encompassing account of Russell's journey up the
motorsport ladder in his own words, centred on his relationship
with his father, before turning to the influence of Mercedes team
principal Toto Wolff and his thoughts on former team-mate Lewis
Hamilton. To open the essay, Russell shares how his father would
purposely mis-time practice laps in his kart to make the
now-27-year-old think he was "just a bit slower" than he actually
was. He described the stopwatch his father used as his path to F1
in "one single image", and explained it was like his "mortal enemy"
during that period of his life. The British driver, who has just
signed a contract extension with the eight-time constructors'
champions, has been one of the stand-out performers in F1 this
season. Check out the opening passage to George Russell's personal
essay in The Players' Tribune below! Excerpt from George Russell's
personal essay in The Players' Tribune The stopwatch. That's pretty
much this whole racing journey to F1, in one single image. That
bloody '80s stopwatch. When I started racing as a young kid, we
didn't have any fancy data screens that would tell you the lap
times like they do now. So my father had this stopwatch he would
use to time me in practice in the karts. I'd drive as fast as I
could. I think it was fear that was pushing me. I wasn't afraid of
the kart, or the speed, or the track. No. I was afraid of that
stopwatch . That stopwatch was like my mortal enemy. It was like no
matter how much I stayed in control, my back against the seat,
perfect grip, squeezing on the pedal going into the corner and
easing off at the right time, no skid, no deceleration, just
straight momentum through the lap… I'd look up at my dad and know.
I'd know . "How'd I do?" "Nope. Not competitive. Do it again." Cold
as ice. At first, going into race weekends, I seriously didn't
believe I could win. I thought, Surely I'm not the quickest out
here . But then something strange would happen…. I'd go and win the
races. I was confused more than anything. On Thursday with my dad,
I thought I was mediocre. By Saturday, I was holding a trophy.
There was a three-year period where I won almost everything I could
possibly win. Next day with my dad. Click. "Nope. Do it again."
It took me probably six years to realise what was happening. Then I
finally figured it out: My dad was purposefully clicking the
stopwatch late. He was adding seconds to my time. He wanted me to
always think I was just a bit slower than I was. Even when I was
winning everything, I could always push myself further. Always a
little further.
