George Russell finds “positivity” from the speculation around his future because by doing a great job on track, 2022 will “sort itself out”.
The Williams driver may be less than a month away from learning if he’ll join Mercedes next season, with Toto Wolff setting the Belgian Grand Prix as a deadline for his decision.
However, the furore around Russell has been strong ever since his strong performance subbing for Lewis Hamilton at last year’s Sakhir GP
“I guess I thrive off it, to be honest, and you have just got to turn into positivity, really,” he told Express Sport of the pressure he’s under.
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“Ultimately, all of the talks are generally positive that is being spoken about in the media, so that makes things slightly easier.
“But I just think to myself, go out there and if I perform on track, there’s nothing to worry about.
“So, I put all of my efforts and focus into doing a great job on the track and the rest will sort itself out, and it sounds a bit silly, but that’s the name of the game.
“It’s all about lap time, It’s all about the performance and the rest is almost secondary.”
Russell has had a few highs and lows this season, ranging from his recent Q3 appearances in Austria and Britain to the high-speed crash with Valtteri Bottas at Imola.
But whatever the perception around him is at any moment, the 23-year-old doesn’t pay much attention.
“I don’t let it let it really bother me or let it get to me, because, as I said, I just need to focus on my job at hand,” he added.
“If I let compliments get into my head, is it going to make me fast on the track? Probably not. If anything, it might make me slower on the track.
“If there’s negativity and I let that get into my head, is that going to make me faster on track? No, more to make me slower as well.
“So you’ve sort of got to drown out all of his external noise, and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t put a little smile on my face when I see positivity out there in the media.
“Of course, you know, every single human would show a little smile when there’s something nice written about you. But as I said, that doesn’t make me go faster on track.
“And I’m just doing absolutely everything to make me go faster on track because I know that will benefit my career, my future.”