McLaren driver Lando Norris says suffering from bad nerves and anxiety risked impacting on his second season in Formula 1 as he opened up about his mental health st🍎ruggles.

Norris has been pa🙈rticularly open in talking about his mental health battles since arriving in F1 in 2019, reveali🐈ng that he struggled with anxiety and confidence issues during his rookie season.

As part of International Men’s Day, which aims to raise awareness of the importance of talking about mental heaಞlth, th✤e 21-year-old Briton shared some of his experiences that affected him during his first season competing in F1.

“During my first season rac🌃ing in Formula 1, I might have looked like the new kid on the block full of confidence and enthusiasm but that really wasn’t the case,” Norris said.

“I covered up the fact that I was struggling a lot with ne♔rves and anxiety. Despite making it to F1, something I had dreamt of ever since I began racing, I found myself questioning my own self-belief: worrying if I had what it took, comparing myself with my team-mate and 🍷other drivers.

“It screws with your head. It’s tough to deal with and I'm sure many other drivers have struggled with it in the past. But in sport, because no one wants to give the opposition an edge or show any weakness, we don’t talk about mental health as much as we should – and 𒅌we really should.”

Norris worked with a mind coach throughout 2019 to help ease some of his struggles in his first season until he got into a position where he felt comfortable dealing with his mental health on his🔴 own.

“Having a strong, core group of people around you, whether it’s family, friends, colleagues, or someone else you feel you can open up to, is essential,” he explaꦆined.

“For me, my fam♐💦ily is most important. But when I’m racing, I’m away from home so my manager, performance coach and engineers – the people I work closest with – are my family.

“We spend so much time working together that we know each other really well and, for all of us to perform at🌳 our best, we need to be comfortable and open with each other.

“Just because I’m the one driving the car, it’s not just about how🍰 I feel. Everyone in the team must feel good about themselves and what 𝔉they are doing to be in the right frame of mind and perform.

“Although we were physically apart for most of the winter and, of c𝓡ourse, during lockdown, I spent a lot of time talking to this core group of people to try to overcome the nerves and anxiety I felt – something which risked affecting m🔯y second year in F1.

“By talking things through with them, it helped me to come into this🎃 season feeling much better about myself – more confident, more positive. It really highlights just how powerful talking to someone can be and the importance of having people around you that you can trust and rely on.”

In his blog for McLaren, Norris continued: “Until the end of 𒅌last season, I workeไd with a mind coach for a few years – another great example of someone I could reach out to, to work on my nerves and get me into a more positive mental state.

“But this year I felt confident enough to take more responsibility for🐽 my own mental health. I think it’s all p🌄art of the growing process.

“I had reached a stage𝓡 where I felt ready to think for myself more when it came to finding ways to overcome mental꧃ challenges.

“It’s [mental health] something that affects us all, bu⭕t it’s equally something people don’t feel like they can talk about.

“This needs to change and I hope that the work we’re doi🃏ng at McLaren, in support of Mind, can be a driving f🧸orce for better mental health for everyone.

“If you’re struggling with your mental health right now, please d🍬on’t struggle alone. Reach out to someone you can talk 🐟to.”