George Russell has revealed a clever trick his father used to motivate him as a child racing in karting.
British F1 driver Russell, 27, has just signed a new and improved contract with Mercedes and will team up once again with Italian teenager Kimi Antonelli next year.
Russell enjoyed a fruitful junior career, winning GP3 and F2 before his F1 debut in 2019, and has divulged in a first-person piece for The Players’ Tribune how his dad, Steve, always clicked his stopwatch late to make his son think he needed to drive faster.
“I’d drive as fast as I could, I think it was fear that was pushing me,” Russell said. “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.
“I’d look up at my dad and know. I’d know. ’How’d I do?’ ‘Nope. Not competitive. Do it again.’
“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.”
Russell, who has five F1 wins to his name, is fourth in the drivers’ championship this year, with six races left this season. The next round is in Austin, Texas, this weekend.
