HOW DO PSYCHOLOGISTS HELP F1 DRIVERS BE AT THEIR BEST?

Formula 1's mental game gets less airtime than aero packages, but the psychological grind across a 24-race season is just as punishing. Formula1.com sits down with Hintsa Performance psychologist Robbie Anderson to walk through how drivers navigate the emotional roller coaster—qualifying disasters, teammate tension, title pressure—and come out the other side still sharp.

Anderson runs hypothetical scenarios: what happens when a driver bins it in Q3, or when the car's a dog and the engineer's out of answers? The techniques mirror what sports psychologists deploy across elite athletics—visualization, emotional reset protocols, compartmentalization—but the margins in F1 are tighter. A bad qualifying costs you Sunday. A bad mindset costs you the season.

The piece pivots to everyday application—Anderson's framework isn't driver-exclusive—but the real takeaway is simpler: even with the best car, the head game decides who capitalizes and who folds. Mental prep is no longer optional at this level.