Russell honest about F1 driver's life: 'It has a lot of influence'

George Russell has proved himself a fast F1 driver over the past two years, although it took a long time for the Brit to score his first points in Formula One. At Williams, he was mainly in the rearguard and an opportunity with Mercedes in Bahrain finally brought him his first points in F1. The mental aspect of Formula 1 is therefore great, Russell acknowledges.

"It's really huge for the drivers. Formula 1 is a hugely exhausting sport. We drive full throttle for two hours straight," Russell explained in conversation with The Sportsman. "The physical strain is really huge and the mental fatigue that comes from all the information you have to take in, looking after the tyres and the car, talking to the engineer and meanwhile adjusting buttons on the steering wheel, makes everything really complicated."

It's not just what happens in the car that causes extra fatigue for the drivers, Russell explains. "We also travel all over the world. That also takes days. To do that once in a while is not bad at all, but to do it 46 times in a season with 23 races, it really starts to affect you."

So the life of a Formula One driver is anything but easy, because in the end all preparations revolve around that one lap on Saturday and the laps done in the race on Sunday. "Those 90 seconds on Saturday can make or break your weekend. Psychologically you have to be ready to do that whole lap perfectly," the Williams driver concludes.