George Russell admits to Mercedes pressure amid Lewis Hamilton contract saga

Russell has also opened up on his mentality, partly driven by Mercedes and partly by himself.

“There’s a few sides to that,” he added.

“There’s me inherently; the days I spent with Mercedes as their reserve driver meant I learned there was a lot more to being a complete F1 driver than just jumping in the car and driving as fast as you can.

“That opportunity, being surrounded by them, made me recognise how I needed to improve from a technical and marketing perspective, just to try to be a more complete person and driver.

“F1 is like no other. It’s ruthless, and you have to excel in all areas or you’re going to be chewed up and spat out. I recognised that early, and I’ve been working ever since to become better and better.”