George Russell has revealed he sought psychological help prior to becoming team-mates with Lewis Hamilton at Formula 1 giants Mercedes.
The Brit is now the undoubted team leader of the German marque after Hamilton departed to join Ferrari at the start of this year.
Now a multiple Grand Prix-winner, Russell is nine years senior to his new team-mate, Italian rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
The King’s Lynn man is regarded as one of F1’s top drivers, emphasised by a string of impressive performances this year, including victory at the Canadian Grand Prix in June.
But when joining the Brackley-based squad from Williams, Russell would be condemned to face one of the toughest team-mates imaginable in Hamilton.
Speaking on the Untapped podcast, Russell revealed he had spoken to a psychological expert prior to his high-profile move, and they helped him reach the conclusion that success was always in his hands.
“So I was thinking about how I’m going to deal with this psychologically,” he said.
“Until one day, I had a really good conversation with my psychologist about it, about how I should deal with the pressure of being his team-mate.
“And I concluded that when I walk into the garage, I’m jumping into my race car, I’m putting my helmet on, I’ve put my visor down, it should not matter if my teammate in the garage next door is a seven-time World Champion, a rookie, or if there’s nobody there, because I’m in control of my own destiny.
“That’s the approach I have – it’s on me to perform.”
Russell has followed fellow Brit Lando Norris, who has been open and public about his own psychological frailties after his tougher moments during this year’s championship.
Alas, in the three years they were team-mates, Russell was able to finish above Hamilton in the Drivers’ Championship twice, a feat never achieved for a team-mate of Hamilton’s before, perhaps proving his course of action was indeed the correct one.
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