Russian GP: Vettel Says Idea Of Hiring Sports Psychologist 'Very Interesting'

Sebastian Vettel admitted ahead of the Russian Grand Prix on Sunday that he has toyed with the idea of employing a sports psychologist to deal with the intense pressure that comes from driving for a top team in Formula 1. The German revealed he had researched the topic, but then chose not to pursue it as he has not met “a person” who can help him at the moment.

Vettel’s ability to drive when under pressure has come under scrutiny on more than one occasion this season. Numerous mistakes during races have seen him drop important points which form the 40-point deficit he has to title rival Lewis Hamilton with six races to go.

The Ferrari driver could well have been leading the title race had it not been for his errors in France, Germany and Italy. The biggest one came in Germany when he crashed out while leading the race.

Vettel has not been at fault all the time with Ferrari also making poor strategy calls that have been detrimental to its drivers. There is a general feeling in the paddock that unlike Hamilton, the German is carrying all the pressure that comes with driving for Ferrari and leading them to their first Drivers’ championship title in over a decade.

Mercedes and Hamilton seem like a well-oiled machine compared to Ferrari, who were seen to shoot themselves in the foot every time the going gets tough during a race weekend. But Vettel indicated that the pressure is self-generated, but believes he is capable of dealing with it without any outside help at the moment.

“Of course I have pressure,” Vettel told Auto Bild, as quoted by PlanetF1. “But most of the time I put it on myself. If you know what you can do and you do not achieve it, then you are not satisfied.”

“I find the idea very interesting, but I have not met a person that I think can help. I’ve already researched it a bit, so the whole topic has not passed me by,” he added talking about hiring a sports psychologist. “When you have stress, you need to find balance. I have developed things that work for me. And I have enough self-discipline, so as not to be confused.”

Vettel’s inability to deal with the pressure during the course of the season, especially when his title rival Hamilton has proven to be unshakeable has drawn criticism from various quarters.

And it has further come under scrutiny because it is widely believed that Ferrari have the better car compared to Mercedes but are unable to put all the pieces together during a race weekend. The German, however, is unconcerned and revealed that he does not read F1 news during his time away from the track in order to stay away from the negative comments.

“In my spare time I hardly read articles about Formula One, more about football. I do not let criticism get to me and that saves me dealing with it,” Vettel said. “Generally, my motto is: ‘You’re never as good as people say and you’re never as bad as they say’.”