Valtteri Bottas says stronger mental health support in F1 helped him open up about his battles
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Formula 1 driver Valtteri Bottas believes the support in motorsports for mental health struggles has greatly improved during his career, and that gave him the courage to extensively detail his own personal battles. “The sport has changed a lot, the world has changed a lot,” Bottas said Thursday, a day after he discussed his own struggles in an essay for “ The Players' Tribune .
" “There's better ways for people to communicate and share their issues, or anything from the past. It's definitely a more welcoming environment for everyone in F1, but I think also the whole world. ” Bottas said he was approached by the outlet late last year and began the process of writing the essay titled “Born Crazy” that was released ahead of the rookie Cadillac team making its North American debut this weekend at the Miami Grand Prix.
Bottas, who is from Finland, and Sergio Perez of Mexico are the drivers for the team that considers itself the only true American team in the global series. He said he agreed to open up to the publication in an effort to show the intense personal battles drivers work through in the ultra-competitive racing world. “I think it's important to highlight that we're all humans and no one is perfect.
Everyone has their struggles or their issues,” Bottas said. “Hopefully somebody can learn from other people's mistakes. Part of life is learning about your mistakes.
” Being a wingman broke Bottas In the piece, Bottas revealed that during his time as a driver for Mercedes he was pushed to the brink of depression and despised F1 when he was relegated to “wingman” for seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. He also disclosed an earlier two-year struggle with an eating disorder. Bottas spent five seasons as Hamilton’s teammate following a 2017 promotion from Williams.
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