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Did Russell feel pressure to deliver at Mercedes? "Arguably, when I was younger"
- GPblog.com
George Russell is entering his third season in Formula 1. Once again, the young Briton will be racing for Williams. For Mercedes, however, Russell still remains the dream successor to Valtteri Bottas in 2022. He has also felt the pressure from Mercedes to succeed, or in other words, imposed it on himself.
When asked by Autocar if he has ever felt serious pressure to perform, since Mercedes have invested so much in him, Russell replies: "Arguably, when I was a bit younger, maybe my early races in GP3."
A turning point for Russell
In his own words, a switch went on in 2017. "I told myself: ‘I’m here for a reason and they haven’t picked me up for the sake of it.’ Mercedes don’t sign 15-20 young drivers every year; at the time, I was one of three. I knew I had to go out there and do my job to the best of my ability," Russell says.
The 22-year-old driver continues: "I’ve always had the most amount of pressure from myself. I know what I want to achieve, and I only saw being affiliated with Mercedes as a positive. Maybe I enjoyed that extra pressure that I knew all eyes were on me, even back then.”