George Russell and Pierre Gasly comments show human cost of F1’s cut-throat side

F1: George Russell hikes during the off-season

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Stepping into Formula One is a dream come true for some drivers, they’ve reached the top of motorsport, they’re thrust into their dream scenario, and they’re racing alongside the best in the world. But when the curtain comes down, it can tell a different story, and often young drivers have their dreams snatched away from them in a blink of an eye, and with it comes pain and disappointment. No one takes pleasure in seeing a mask slip, to reveal the pain of a human behind the driver as they watch their childhood dreams in F1 left in tatters.

It’s easy to forget these drivers have fought their entire lives to get to the pinnacle of the sport, only to find after two years their dream is shattered after a string of poor performances

Of course, some teams stay loyal to their drivers, even at the cost of their own performance, yet others are able to appear to flick through a catalogue, pick the next best thing, give it a whirl, before deciding their time is up.

Often it’s after an underperforming first or second season with a driver putting on a brave face, showing weakness doesn’t seem to be an option at the top level as Williams driver George Russell explains: “If you’re in a tough one you’re not meant to show disappointment because that shows weakness.

“We are racing drivers and we drive around the track as fast as we can. That’s our number one duty.

“There’s so much more that comes with it, that we’re expected to handle as well as we handle our main job.

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“It is very, very difficult and there’s been a lot of cases of it recently, where people have been put under so much scrutiny that it has a very negative effect.

“I guess there are only so many people who really understand what they are going through.”

A prime example is Pierre Gasly, a talented junior driver who made his way to Red Bull after being called up from the junior team Toro Rosso ahead of the 2019 season.

But very quickly things changed at the Milton Keynes-based team, and Gasly, who was just 22-years-old at the time, admitted he could feel the team turning against him early on.

“After a really good year with Toro Rosso in 2018, I got the call from Helmut Marko to let me know they wanted me at Red Bull,” he said in a piece for The Players’ Tribune. “They had won so many Championships and Sebastian Vettel had been such an inspiration to me as a kid — I knew I wanted to drive like him one day. So I was realising a dream, and I was just so excited.”

Yet, it was a dream that was quickly shattered for the young driver.

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“From the moment I made my first mistake in a car, I felt like people there slowly began to turn on me. I’d had a crash in winter testing and from that moment on the season never really got going.

“Then I had a tough first two races with Red Bull and the media just ate me up. Anything I said in the press was twisted into an excuse for my form, and nobody really stuck up for me.

“The car wasn’t perfect and I was doing my best to try to improve and learn each week. But here’s what I’ll say about it – it was a difficult time for me at Red Bull because I didn’t feel like I was really supported and treated the same way as others there have been. And for me, that’s something I just can’t accept.”

Sergey Sirotkin impressed at Williams, working alongside the team to better their performances for the future.

He scored just a single point in his maiden campaign, but very much appeared a team player at the team before he was replaced in 2019 by Robert Kubica.

He told Autosport: “I dedicated so much energy to earn the results, I put so much work in.

“[But] the spirit you’re taking, proceeding with this, you put in more than just work and energy.

“You put your heart in it, your thoughts are with the team. In this case, it’s just such a sad thing.

“It took so much as a human, and I won’t see the result.”

Russell especially this season has been put under a huge amount of pressure for a 23-year-old but has insisted he is “comfortable” with the exposure he’s received amid a potential move to Mercedes.

It’s a different story when media speculation is behind you, but Russell could have to perform alongside Lewis Hamilton, a seven-time world champion.

Despite clear loyalty from Mercedes to their drivers, the pressure on the young driver’s shoulders to perform will be immense.

“It’s definitely a new experience having to handle the extra media scrutiny and a higher profile,” Russell continued.

“It’s something I knew would come with the job. Obviously, it was a step up from all the races prior to the Sakhir Grand Prix and then following.

“But I’ve been prepped for it relatively well. I’ve never been thrown in at the deep end or outside of my comfort zone.

“So I feel this has been a slow learning process over the course of these years. I feel pretty comfortable with it.

“As sportsmen and women, you’re expected to perform excellently on track, then you’re expected to go in front of the camera and be politically correct, or charismatic, or show personality, show all of these things.”

Failure to manage the pressure is quickly followed by a dip in form, in a world of constant scrutiny, but still, occasionally we get a glimpse of the pressure put on these drivers.

And even the greats can’t escape the constant pace of the treadmill, with Hamilton quoted saying: “I feel like people are expecting me to fail, therefore, I expect myself to win.”

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