5: LEARN TO TRUST YOURSELF AND YOUR ABILITY
Let’s tackle a tricky issue here – anxiety is a b**ch!
I know a lot of drivers that suffer from pre-race nerves, and each reacts differently. As a journo, you know who to leave alone before a race – they’re usually the one with the windows rolled up tight or hidden away in the back of a truck.
It’s not a sign of weakness, just a natural reaction to putting yourself into a potentially dangerous situation, which motorsport can be.
For me, anxiety was a big battle at times. Once in the car, I’m fine and raring to go. But it can be a mental battle to just get in it.
After my Donington crash in 2016 my nerves went into overdrive there this year – constant pacing, unease and a horrible tickle in your throat that makes you feel like heaving – I had to put up with the lot.
I learned to control all of this through a few tricks.
Golfing legend Jack Nicklaus once said that “concentration is a fine antidote to anxiety”, and he was entirely right.
Doing visualisation laps in the collecting area passed the time, calmed the nerves and acted as a mental warm-up. Controlled breathing helped, as did some high-tempo music to get some adrenaline going. Plus, more than the odd Polo mint here and there as a distraction…
The key is having confidence in yourself. Learning to trust what you can do in the car and let your subconscious muscle memory do a lot of the harder bits for you.
Being part of a great team also helps as it’s important to relax with a bit of banter. Stress brings with it a tendency to over-drive the car.
I also learned to trust my instincts with the rules. When Brands was red-flagged I knew the rule was to stop on the grid. However, every car in front of me headed back to the pits, and I naively followed them.
The handful of cars that did head to the grid got an advantage at the restart as the cars in the pits were held before rejoining to a green flag. That last round podium could have been more had I been a bit more trusting of my rules knowledge.
I’ll put it down to a rookie error, but there will be no more excuses should I get the privilege of a second season next year. ■