Formula One driver George Russell has opened on his mental health struggles, revealing he started seeing a therapist after a crash left him at a ‘very low point’.
Russell endured a difficult 2022 season where he arrived at Mercedes hoping to challenge for wins and even the title at a team that had dominated the sport for nearly a decade.
But the underperformance of the W13 car meant that he and Sir Lewis Hamilton were unable to compete against the likes of Max Verstappen and Red Bull.
Nevertheless, the 24-year-old was able to beat his legendary teammate in the standings, a feat only world champions Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg had previously achieved, and picked up his maiden F1 victory with a sterling drive in Brazil.
While last season was tough at times, Russell says he is now better equipped to deal with the difficult moments, both on and off the track, than he was a few years ago, telling Men’s Health: ‘I haven’t always been into my mental health.
‘I only started getting into it about a year and a half, two years ago, when I started to speak with a psychologist, mainly for my on-track personal performance.
‘It was only through those conversations that I felt like this is giving me more than just the on-track benefits. I’m coming away from these sessions feeling better about myself, feeling like there had been a weight lifted off my shoulders.
‘Sometimes I went into these sessions with not a lot to talk about, thinking it would only last five or 10 minutes, and I was there well over an hour and since then it has been something I have felt strongly about.’
Russell made his F1 debut in 2019 with Williams and while his talent was clear from the off, he struggled to score points in what was consistently the slowest car on the grid.
He was also involved in some big crashes during that period and it was after one of these incidents that he decided to see a therapist.
He revealed: ‘The moment when I thought I need to seek some professional help, I had a really difficult race. I had a crash, [and] it was a very low point in my career.
‘I thought I could just pick myself up from that moment and I was picking myself up, but we decided to speak with a professional.
‘And I was so grateful that I was advised to do that because I came away from that conversation and that meeting with him feeling so much better about myself, and put those negatives to the side, lifted myself up, and I was ready to attack the rest of the day and the rest of the week.
‘The one bit of advice I would give to someone who is struggling with their mental health would be not to be ashamed about talking to somebody.
‘Whether that is a friend, or a colleague, or a member of your family, or reaching out to a professional.
‘We all have our moments where we are feeling a bit down, a little bit low but even when we are not, I think talking to somebody to almost have this mental maintenance just to keep ticking over, to keep in that positive place, is so important.’
Russell and Hamilton are set to launch Mercedes’ 2023 car, the W14, on Wednesday, ahead of the season opener in Bahrain on March 5th.
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