Russell 'thriving' off pressure over 2022 prospects

George Russell says he is harnessing the pressure over his future in F1 and whether he'll be racing with Williams or Mercedes next year, and transforming it into positivity.

The winds of speculation continue to whirl about Russell, although more and more signs appear to point to the young Briton's move to Mercedes from 2022.

While Mercedes boss Toto Wolff may have already decided who will fill the plum seat at the Brackley squad alongside Lewis Hamilton next year, it's unlikely Russell himself has been informed of the decision.

Thus, the pressure lingers for the talented 23-year-old.

"I guess I thrive off it, to be honest, and you have just got to turn into positivity, really," Russell told Express Sport.

"Ultimately, all of the talks are generally positive that are being spoken about in the media, so that makes things slightly easier.

"But I just think to myself, just go out there and if I perform on track, there’s nothing to worry about.

"So, I just put all of my efforts and focus into doing a great job on the track and the rest will sort itself out, and it sounds a bit silly, but that’s the name of the game.

"It’s all about lap time, It’s all about the performance and the rest is almost secondary."

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Amid the current whirlwind of speculation and hearsay, but also praise, Russell rightly points out that none of the buzz will improve his pace or performance. So he wisely drowns it all out.

"I don’t let it let it really bother me or let it get to me, because, as I said, I just need to focus on my job at hand," he added.

"If I let compliments get into my head, is it going to make me fast on the track? Probably not. If anything, it might make me slower on the track.

"If there’s negativity and I let that get into my head, is that going to make me faster on track? No, more to make me slower as well.

"So you’ve sort of got to drown out all of his external noise, and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t put a little smile on my face when I see positivity out there in the media.

"Of course, you know, every single human would show a little smile when there’s something nice written about you. But as I said, that doesn’t make me go faster on track.

"And I’m just doing absolutely everything to make me go faster on track because I know that will benefit my career, my future."

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