Russell honoured his parents with £1.5 million payback

Ahead of the Miami Grand Prix, Russell spoke about his relationship with his father and why it was rocky at times.

He said, "My father was working every day from seven in the morning to nine at night to earn his money to take me racing at the weekend."

The Briton explains, "In those eight years, there were happy times, but there are lots of sad memories from my parents fighting because of how hard my father was being on me. My mum was trying to hold it all together.”

The Mercedes driver said that he can see how hard it must have been on his father, judging by the work his brother puts in for his kids.

“I can now see it with my brother: his kids are starting go-karting and he is working his a*** off to give them the chance. Life isn’t simple, with the stress of work and the rest. And I will forever be grateful for what my dad did.” 

Russell admits that what his father did got him to where he is today, which is why he made it a plan to pay his father back.

He said, “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."