Finding The Limit (Not just in F1)
It is about time we talked about mental health, and one of my favourite sports out there, F1 Racing.
For those not familiar with F1, it is the fastest race in the world. 20 of the fastest drivers in the world, 10 teams with 10 different cars, 6 continents and a lot of burnt rubber. F1 is always pushing the limit of what humans and what cars can do, and that is what I would like to talk about.
I am pretty much always thinking about F1. Whether it is working on a Tiktok account with the goal to get noticed by F1, or the upcoming qualifying and race weekend. There is always something going on with F1. Not to say there is not with other sports, but F1 is different. One of the things you can get out of F1 that you cannot get from other sports, is the interesting dynamic between athlete and machine.
In most sports, the limit of what can be achieved is limited by human capabilities. If you cannot dunk a ball, changing up the type of basketball is not going to add 4 inches of vert to your leap. But in F1, if you, as a human, are at your limits both physically and mentally, you get to push your car to its limits then too. The top drivers know how to push themselves, so they spend day in and day out working with engineers on their team to find the limit of their car and push.
And as much as I have tried, I cannot talk to cars yet. So, sadly, I have to write what I know about. Humans and heartache.
We all have human limits. Even drivers like Oscar Piastri or Max Verstappen have limits, though we haven’t seen them yet. But in my opinion, those limits that they are pushing, limits that they want to stretch to the utmost extreme, are mental, and not physical.
Yes, F1 drivers have to go through immense physical training to do what they do, I am not putting that into question at all. What I am saying though, is that physically, there is only so much you can prepare for when you are about to go 300 km/h down the Las Vegas strip.
The mental barriers, hurdles, walls, and barricades that the drivers must drive through must be absolutely immense. We are talking about hundreds of millions of dollars in prize winnings, hundreds of thousands of fans in attendance at each race, thousands of staff per team, (not to mention the half a billion people that watch each race) all with their eyes on two drivers.
And the moment your mind slips, wanders, or falters... Superman help you if you’re near a wall at that literal tenth of a second you let those bad thoughts into your brain because you are looking at a crash of at least 10 Gs at 300 km/h.
So how the hell do they do it? I have absolutely no idea. But I know they are pushing their limits. The braver you are, the later you brake into a turn. With a clear mind, you can defend from Lewis Hamilton behind you while you both careen around a corner that would be hard for me to take at 80 km/h, let alone 200. The more you push your own mental capabilities, the faster and better you are. Numerous drivers have had their careers ruined by doubt or fear. You need to know you are the best. The confidence those guys must have.
I have read numerous articles about F1 and mental health. F1 has been around for 75 years, and you can imagine that there used to be a “suck it up and get back to work” mentality. 2 years ago they expanded to 23 races in the year (now 24) and one of the team principal’s (manager), when asked about the toll 23 races around the world would take on the staff, he responded “If someone doesn’t like it, they should go.”
But what if someone loves it, but they are having a bad week? A bad month? Or even a year? What if someone misses their family so much, they would abandon their dream job to go be with them. Is that weakness? Should they have to give up on their dream of being on an F1 Team because they are going through a divorce and are suffering emotionally? Fuck no. Showing those emotions is strength baby!
I have only really been into Formula 1 for about 3 years, so I just missed out on fan boying over Sebastian Vettel. He is a four time world champion driver, and sadly retired in 2022. There is an interesting interview about him and the mental toll F1 takes on everyone involved. If you have a broken leg, you’ll be going to a doctor. If you have a broken brain or heart, you are not going to simply sleep it off. So why do we shy away from talking about mental health? Why is it such a secret if you are hurt?
He says that drivers will talk about their mental health struggles with each other, but not as often in the public. And of course, who can blame them. Race car drivers are the manliest men out there. And as I have written about before, crying is not for men.
And that is why I am writing this. Because I do not want there to be any weakness or shame or guilt when you are talking about your own emotions. Life is hard. Life is wonderful. Life is emotion. Both good and bad.
Like the wonderfully talented Sebastian Vettel says, “we all are human and go through the same things and the same challenges. There's no Superman or Superwoman, except on TV."
