Lewis Hamilton opens up: ‘I’m struggling mentally and emotionally’

Formula 1 star Lewis Hamilton has said that he has been struggling “mentally and emotionally for a long time” but has promised to “keep fighting” after his difficult start to the Formula One season.

Hamilton, 37, finished tenth in last weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after starting 15th on the grid.

The race was overshadowed by a missile strike on an oil refinery 12 miles away from the track in Jeddah, and Hamilton said afterwards: “I just want to go home”.

The seven-time world champion has been hampered by Mercedes’s new car, which has suffered from “porpoising” issues — when a car bounces on the straights. Hamilton opened up about his struggles in an Instagram post on Thursday.

 “It’s been such a tough year already with everything that is happening around us. Hard some days to stay positive,” he wrote.

“I have struggled mentally and emotionally for a long time, to keep going is a [constant] effort but we have to keep fighting, we have so much to do and to achieve.

 “I’m writing to tell you it’s ok to feel the way you do, just know that you are not alone and that we are gonna get through this. A friend reminded me today, ‘You are so powerful & you can do anything you put your mind to!’ ”

Hamilton has previously spoken out about his mental health. Last year he posted on Instagram to say that anyone who was “struggling right now” was “not alone”.

“I too am having a hard time but I know we are going to get through this,” he wrote. He also encouraged people to talk about their mental health after the start of the pandemic in 2020, when he admitted to having “a lot of difficult days”.

Last year Hamilton also revealed issues with his body image. He described how he had “always been that skinny dude” and explained that there were “days I hate my body, days where I feel fat or too skinny”, posted alongside a video of himself topless.