George Russell currently looks like a future World Champion in the making. By beating Lewis Hamilton and winning Mercedes’s only race victory in his first year with the team, the 24-year-old is a driver to keep a close eye on ahead of 2023.
But the Briton revealed that a couple of years back he lacked the confidence he has presently. Back in 2020, Russell was with backmarker Williams and had struggled to finish with points for over 2 seasons.
Russell revealed that it was at this point that he chose to take his Mental health seriously. And that more people take it seriously as it changed his approach towards racing.
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George Russell shares his story about taking mental health seriously
George Russell revealed that he has been taking professional help for the past 2 years. the Brit initially approached a psychologist to talk about his on-track performances.
Russell claims a difficult crash in 2020 was what changed his attitude towards Mental health. He described, “The moment I felt the need to seek professional help was when I had this difficult crash at a very low point. And I felt like I needed to pick myself out from that.”
The crash Russell must have referred to would be the one during the 2020 Emilia Romagna GP. Russell crashed out of 10th place while the safety car was out. Had Russell managed to continue, he would have secured his first F1 points.
The sessions proved helpful for the Briton who described it to be extremely insightful and introspective. Russell claimed he felt a burden was lifted off his shoulders.
He said, “The process was just having an open and honest conversation. I wasn’t so sure about the results. I sort of maintained it the same way as you would go to the gym to maintain your physical health.”
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Russell addresses the Stigma around men seeking therapy
Goerge Russell believes physical and mental health go hand in hand. And the Mercedes driver encourages more men to consider taking professional help if they ever feel the need to.
There is a lot of stigma around men who find therapy un-masculine. And Russell feels men need to overcome this mentality and approach this subject as a form of mental exercise.
As Russell says, “I think men have a lot of pride about being strong in being able to push aside any difficulties. I feel this is when we need to turn on this tide.”
He added, “It takes a huge amount of courage to go there and open up. We don’t need to sit back and think that we have all the answers to our problems. There is nothing to be ashamed of having an open and honest conversation.”
