George Russell has revealed he has repaid the 1.5m pounds his parents invested in his racing career, a sacrifice that saw his father sell the family business.
Now a key figure at Mercedes, Russell has enjoyed a strong start to the 2025 season and is widely expected to sign a new contract with the Silver Arrows. Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff praised the 27-year-old’s trajectory, hinting that his long-term future with the team is secure.
Russell has made a fine start to his fourth full season with Mercedes, claiming four podium finishes across the first six races of the F1 2025 campaign.
It follows the most successful season his career in 2024, when he claimed two victories in Austria and Las Vegas and dominated seven-time World Champion team-mate Lewis Hamilton in qualifying conditions.
Russell joined Mercedes’ driver academy in early 2017, winning the F3 and F2 junior categories in successive years across 2017/18 before securing an F1 promotion with Mercedes customers Williams in 2019, graduating to the senior team at the start of 2022.
The 27-year-old is famed for his PowerPoint presentations, having used the computer tool to convince Mercedes and Williams to take a chance on him during his rise through the ranks.
Speaking to British newspaper the Mail, Russell revealed that his father Steve spent around 1.5m pounds to fund hs early career – selling his seed and pulse business in the process – with the Mercedes driver paying back the debt.
Russell said: “He sold the business to fund my racing in 2012.
“For where we lived, my father was an exceptionally successful man.
“But in that industry, success was making a profit. Now we are in a world of unrealistic wealth with billionaires around us.
“We could have lived a very happy life had he not done that. I have paid everything back that he spent on me.
“I made it clear that as soon as I made money, I wanted to pay everything off. It was about £1.5m.”
Russell went on to reveal that his father would get “dead angry” with him when he made “silly mistakes” in the early days, with his mother Alison “trying to hold it all together.”
Russell added that his father’s approach softened when he was picked up by Mercedes as a teenager.
Asked if he was given the silent treatment by his dad, Russell said: “No, I’d be b******ed.
“I see it now that kids who are born with a silver spoon in their mouths don’t have the same work ethic as those who had massive discipline over them from a young age.
“So from my father’s perspective, would he wish that for those six, seven, eight years that he had a closer relationship with his son?
“Maybe. But those years set me up for life.
‘If I could turn back the clock knowing what I know now, I wouldn’t change a single thing.
“What was amazing with my father is that when I was signed by Mercedes [as a junior driver], he opened the cage door and let me fly.
“It went from being a super-controlling, super-emotional, b******ing every time I didn’t do well, to suddenly feeling he could pass me on to the next chapter.
“Now, he supports me from afar every single session.”
Russell’s current Mercedes contract is due to expire at the end of this season, with the three-time race winner linked with a surprise move to Red Bull last month.
PlanetF1.com reported at the time that Russell’s situation had not changed since the start of F1 2025, despite a report in Italy claiming that he was edging close to a new Mercedes contract.
Speaking to media including PlanetF1.com at last weekend’s Miami Grand Prix, however, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff hinted that Russell’s strong start to the new season is likely to be rewarded with a new deal.
Asked directly if Russell will be given a new contract, Wolff said: “George is part of the Mercedes family and has always been.
“And as I see things today, why break a team that is on a trajectory that I see as positive?”
