"I’m not one of these guys who likes to hype it up" - Mercedes' George Russell says his approach to races in 'nice and chilled'

George Russell recently revealed that his preparation and mindset going into an F1 race is slightly different from that of several other drivers. He described his approach as the opposite of drivers who hype themselves up, sharing that he prefers to listen to some music and calm his nerves before getting into the car.

On the IWC ’Partners In Time' podcast, George Russell spoke about his need to calm down instead of being hyped up as part of his preparation regime leading up to a race. He said:

“I’m not one of these guys who likes to hype it up. I’m not one of those ‘I need to listen to this, I need to get in the zone’, because I feel like your body is in this excited, almost angry state when you’re hyping yourself up and you’re almost anxious I feel. So I’ve almost got the opposite approach, I like to be calm, I like to be relaxed, I like to go about it as if it’s any other day, I feel like I perform best when I’m calm and I’m relaxed and I don’t put any pressure on myself. I listen to a bit of music in the morning on the way into the track, nothing crazy, say hello to everyone, have a coffee, chill out and to be really honest, that’s about it.”

Russell claims that while his approach may seem bizarre to some, he is well aware of what works for him and his body when it comes to an F1 race. He went on to add, saying:

“As boring as it sounds, I think that’s what works for me, I appreciate guys who need the rock and roll music to hype them up and get them ready to smash it into the first corner, but that doesn’t work for me. Everyone’s different. Maybe people look at me and think ‘well that’s crazy and I can’t believe you don’t get yourself in the zone’ or they might think I’m missing a trick, but I know my body, I know from my past experiences what works for me and that does. So nice and chilled.”

The Mercedes driver has gotten off to a great start in the 2022 F1 season. He has outperformed his new team-mate on several occasions and currently finds himself second in the drivers' standings behind Charles Leclerc.

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"The most successful year of my career" - George Russell reflects on Formula 2 days

George Russell spent the first three years of his F1 career at Williams and is currently driving for eight-time world champions, Mercedes. Interestingly, when asked about his favorite car throughout his career, he chose the ART Grand Prix car. This was the car he drove to the 2018 Formula 2 title.

Speaking about his experiences in different cars, George Russell emphasized that it is the cars he has won in that remain closest to his heart. He said:

“I’ve obviously had the pleasure of driving a few of the World Championship-winning Mercedes cars, which were without a doubt the best cars I’ve drove, but they weren’t truly my cars. Cars you won in, or karts you won in, they are the ones you love. It doesn’t matter how it looks, how it feels, if you win, you love it.”

Describing his championship-winning year, he said:

“I’d say probably the most successful year of my career was 2018 when I raced Formula 2, I’ve actually got a very nice photograph on the wall of my flat [of] back in 2018 when I won the championship.”

Ever since his Formula 2 championship win, George Russell has been a force to be reckoned with, when while he drove for a team that rarely ever even made it to the midfield.