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Russell - Less pressure at Mercedes than Red Bull

15:37, 20 Apr 2019

byJoseph Tyrrell

George Russell has admitted he is feeling the same amount of pressure in Formula 1 as he did during his time in F2 and GP3 with the Mercedes junior driver continuing to struggle at Williams.

Russell was one of three rookies in 2019, alongside Lando Norris and Alexander Albon but Russell hasn’t been able to compete with the other two due to Williams’ car lacking behind. Despite struggling in the Williams he performed well in testing with Mercedes.

Russell insists he’s feeling no extra pressure at Mercedes as a junior whereas it might not be the same at Red Bull.

"I think everybody is aware of the pressure that is seen upon Red Bull juniors, so you understand why they are always 120 per cent every single time they set foot in the car,” said Russell, as quoted by Crash.net.

"It’s not that I don’t feel pressure [from Mercedes], at the end of the day if I am not performing Mercedes aren’t just going to keep me there.

"But when I opened the F2 season in Bahrain last year and it was a poor weekend and the same in GP3 in Barcelona [the year before], the response from Toto [Wolff] was ‘don’t worry about it, it’s the first race and a long season, and make sure you do better next time’.”