Self-doubt, psychological help: Vettel reveals himself – "Can I still do my job?"
Created: 09/01/2022, 22:36
By: Marius Epp
Sebastian Vettel breaks a taboo in professional sport: He speaks openly about his own weakness and self-doubt.
He sought psychological help.
Zandvoort - "Can I still do my job?" Sebastian Vettel asked himself this question.
The man from Heppenheim never found his sporting happiness in the Aston Martin.
In an interview with Die
Zeit
, he gives an insight into the past few years, which ultimately led to the decision to end his career.
Self-doubt plagued the 35-year-old, especially in the late autumn of his career, when things no longer ran like clockwork.
He started having doubts two years ago.
"When things weren't going well here at Aston Martin, I asked myself: can I still do my job at all?
You don't talk about that as a professional, somehow it seems frowned upon," says Vettel.
Sebastian Vettel got psychological help: "Nothing to be ashamed of"
Ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix, he revealed he has sought psychological help before in his career.
"It's nothing to be ashamed of." Like almost all athletes who are in the limelight, Vettel has avoided publicly showing weakness in recent years.
Anyone who asked him about self-doubt a year or two ago always got a similar answer: I'm still good enough, I want to win races.
Today Vettel speaks more openly about it.
Sebastian Vettel didn't always believe in himself 100 percent.
© JOHN THYS/AFP
“Personal weaknesses and thoughts about them are part of performance and also part of success.
At least for this realization, the past two years have been worth their weight in gold for me,” reflects the four-time Formula 1 world champion.
"I didn't think about it until 2013, everything went perfectly then." He was never able to repeat his four world championship titles with Red Bull.
Sebastian Vettel leaves Formula 1: "I don't know if I can cope with life afterwards"
Why not?
“The first setback came in 2014.
The cars were different to drive, automatic components made a lot of decisions for the drivers, I didn't like that," he explains.
At Ferrari, he then narrowly failed several times to win the fifth world title.
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In the years that followed, a second Vettel grew up alongside the racing driver: the family man, the environmentalist.
He will soon leave Formula 1. “Of course I ask myself whether I can cope with life afterwards or whether I will miss something.
Maybe I won't win this race, maybe not even finish it.
I don't know," he says.
(epp)