George Russell has detailed how his parents raised £1.5million to fund his go-karting career - which led to some tough family politics. The Mercedes driver was subjected to a childhood of tough love as his father especially wanted to see a return on his investment.

Russell was a star before arriving in Formula 1, winning Formula 2 before joining Williams. His performances eventually got him the Mercedes promotion, where he's become a race-winning driver. Years earlier though and Russell was dealing with the pressure to perform.

His father, Steve, worked immensely long days to fund his son's karting career. All in all it cost a seven-figure sum to put the Mercedes star through all those years in the junior ranks. Russell has since repaid his parents every penny they spent.

But that was only after his father put huge demands on him to produce. It led to some frosty car journeys home when Russell had made mistakes, often ending in tears.

The 27-year-old admits he had to deal with plenty of "tough love" with his mum and dad clashing over how best to deal with him. However at such a tender age concedes you don't understand why your parents are being hard on you.