Williams racer George Russell opens up on psychologist helping him start 2021 F1 season

The F1 2021 season is already underway as the Bahrain Grand Prix started with a bang. The next race on the F1 2021 calendar is the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on April 18. Williams racer George Russell, who delivered an impressive performance in Bahrain, will hope to replicate that performance in Imola. After the setbacks from last year, Russell explained how seeing a psychologist helped him come back stronger for the F1 2021 season.

George Russell mental health importance

As Russell heads into his third season with Williams, he has faced his fair share of adversities in F1 so far. The 23-year old failed to score a point for the team in both 2019 and 2020 because of a poor car. And when his chance finally came while driving for Mercedes at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix, pit stop issues and a late puncture dropped him down the order. In order to deal with these setbacks, the Williams driver has sought professional help as he explained to the British newspaper The i.

Russell explained how seeking professional help was a 'great' step in his development as an F1 driver. "I’m feeling stronger and stronger about this, the more time goes on and since I’ve also had these difficult moments and learnt that talking about it to the right person… obviously talking to your family and friends is all well and good but getting professional advice was really important. That allowed me to come back stronger, fitter, healthier than ever, and [I’ll] be able to perform off the back of it," explained Russell.

George Russell mental health setback 2020

As for the setbacks of the 2020 season, George Russell saw them as a learning process and explained how they will help him come back stronger to fight for wins and championships. He said, "If I want to win races and championships, I can’t let those difficult moments dwell on me. I qualified second in the Sakhir Grand Prix. And I was disappointed."

Russell also revealed why those disappointments are a blessing in disguise. "My best qualifying position until that point was P12, which I was absolutely ecstatic about, and then I’d just qualified second and I was disappointed. And that also taught me that fighting for championships and victories in the future is going to be mentally much tougher than what I had to endure finishing at the back of the grid for the last two years," said Russell. British fans will be happy to hear the comments of the Williams driver as they have a champion in the making.