Norris struggled mentally at the start: 'It took its toll'
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Lando Norris is a beloved driver in Formula 1, in part because he always acts so cheerful and jovial, but it turns out this isn't the whole story. This morning on ITV's This Morning, the McLaren driver admitted that he had to deal with mental health issues when he started out in Formula One.
In this morning's broadcast, he admitted that he was often depressed. He explained how the reality of what drivers go through behind the scenes can be very different from what fans think.
"I guess people, from when they just watch TV, don't realise many things that a driver goes through. And it's a bit of shame, but there are more programmes now where you get to see what the driver is like behind the scenes, and the amount of pressure and stress that they have to cope with. Especially at my age, coming into Formula 1 at 19, there's a lot of eyes on you. So, dealing with all these kinds of things, took its toll on me," said the 21-year-old driver according to Autosport.
Doubts and questions about the future
The Brit admits that there was immense pressure and that it made him think a lot about what would happen if he didn't give a good performance.
"It was] feeling like I don't know what's next? If this goes wrong, if I don't go out in the next session and perform, what's going to happen? What's the outcome of all of this? Am I going to be in Formula 1 next year, if I'm not? What am I going to do because I'm not really good at many other things in life? So, just all of that, and then just feeling depressed a lot of the time that if I have a bad weekend, I just think I'm not good enough and things like that. When they start adding up over the season, and then the social media side of it all, that can just really start to hurt you," the McLaren driver admitted.
Mind and McLaren helped him through
Norris says a combination of support from his McLaren team, plus working with mental health charity Mind, has helped him feel better now.
"We partner with Mind, which have helped me massively, and also helped many other people in McLaren, but also just in the world in general. So speaking to McLaren, speaking to the people that are around me and my friends that I trust, and, also Mind, I'm in a much better place now. I’m much happier and I can enjoy everything I do," the Brit said.