George Russell says Red Bull are "more cutthroat" with their young drivers

George Russell has said that he believes that Mercedes are more patient with their young drivers than Red Bull. The Mercedes junior believes that drivers in the Red Bull set up feel more pressure and believes that this is why Alexandr Albon had his accident in qualifying last weekend. 

“Alex is doing a really great job at the moment,” Russell said to RaceFans. “Everybody is aware of the pressure seen upon Red Bull juniors so you understand why they’re all at 120% every single time they set foot in the car.”

The Brit said that Red Bull are "a bit more cutthroat compared to usual.”

"It’s not that I don’t feel pressure,” he said. “At the end of the day if I’m not performing Mercedes aren’t just going to keep me there.

“There’s no need to add additional pressure to try and impress anybody more than you’re doing. My goal is to get the most out of it and if I do it then they’ll be happy.”

Albon ended up having a very strong Grand Prix so perhaps it could be argued that this pressure is beneficial to a drivers performance. It is interesting to see how two different teams have such different approaches.