In the cut-throat world of F1, mental health is often overlooked, but there is a new generation of drivers tapping into the power of psychology to unlock performance on the racetrack.
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Lando Norris and George Russell both make use of sports psychologists(Image: Mario Renzi – Formula 1 via Getty Images)
When Lando Norris crossed the line in Abu Dhabi to seal his maiden F1 Drivers’ Championship title, he did so having recovered from a frustrating first half of the season with the help of his McLaren team and the help of a psychologist behind the scenes.
The 26-year-old Brit, who has been open in the past about his struggles with mental health and coping with the pressure of F1 earlier in his career, spent much of the first half of the campaign berating his mistakes and struggling to contain his frustration when in front of the TV cameras.
In the second half of the year, Norris was much more measured, never getting carried away when things went against him, and staying grounded at his peaks, even after putting one hand on the World Championship trophy with back-to-back wins in Mexico and Brazil.
In a global sporting landscape where the one per cent matters and marginal gains are everything, harnessing the power of the mind is now an invaluable key to F1 success, and some of F1’s biggest stars are turning on to the potential benefits.
Norris is far from the only star seeking help from mental health professionals. Mercedes star George Russell has been vocal about his approach, telling Men’s Health in 2023: “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.”
Yuki Tsunoda, who was axed by Red Bull at the end of the season, also benefited from the services of a sports psychologist. The Japanese racer admitted that he was prone to getting “overheated, especially in my brain”, while driving. Working with a mental specialist allowed him to develop a better temperament behind the wheel.
According to former Haas racer Romain Grosjean, the work of psychologists can have far-reaching benefits, too. “I’ve been seeing a psychologist since September 2012 and Spa-Francorchamps,” he said, looking back at the lap-one crash that saw him receive a one-race ban from the FIA.
“It has helped me a lot to become a better driver, a better father and a better man. We use engineers to set up the car, and we use coaches to improve our physical performance. Why wouldn’t you use a psychologist to improve your brain and the way it works? That’s why I did it.”