‘I have suffered mentally’: Toto Wolff opens up on mental health struggles ahead of 2022 F1 season
The Mercedes team principal has been receiving counselling since 2004
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Your support makes all the difference.Toto Wolff has said “it’s ok to get help” after revealing the extent of his mental health struggles.
Revealing that he had been seeing a psychiatrist regularly since 2004, the Mercedes team principal has outlined the importance of seeking assistance if you are struggling.
Wolff, 50, has been involved in Formula 1 since buying a stake in Williams in 2009.
He joined Mercedes in 2013 and has since overseen a period of extraordinary success, winning eight consecutive Constructors’ Championships and helping Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg to individual world titles.
However Wolff has explained that he has “suffered mentally”, even since that began, and feels it is important to be candid about his therapy.
The Austrian told The Times: ”High profile people who seem to have everything but are struggling, I think we have an obligation to say we’re getting help and it’s ok to get help.
“I’ve been going to a psychiatrist since 2004. I think I’ve had more than 500 hours [of therapy]. I have suffered mentally and I still do.
“Getting help is a way of overcoming my problems and it has helped me to access untapped potential. I’ve never had a problem with the stigma.
“Some of the most successful people are very, very sensitive, and very, very sensitive means very, very vulnerable.”
Mercedes missed out on another F1 Drivers’ Championship in 2021 as Max Verstappen pipped Lewis Hamilton to win a maiden world title.
Hamilton has previously echoed Wolff’s comments, agreeing with his Mercedes boss that it is important to ask for help if you require it.
The British driver wrote on social media in 2020: “I also have a lot of difficult days. Especially in the bubble that we’re currently in. You get lonely, you miss your friends and family, and with back to back race weeks it means there’s not much time for anything but work. So I’m grateful for the ones closest to me helping me to keep a balance, even if it’s just thru [sic] text, phone or FaceTime.
“I guess what I’m trying to say is, it’s never a bad thing to ask for help if you need it, or to tell somebody how you feel. Showing your vulnerable side doesn’t make you weak, instead, I like to think of it as a chance to become stronger.”
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