Valtteri Bottas is the latest driver to admit to suffering mental health issues, the Finn revealing that in addition to an addiction to training he had an eating disorder.

In the age of Drive to Survive, a number of drivers, most notably Lando Norris and George Russell, have admitted to suffering with mental health, while the likes of Sebastian Vettel and Romain Grosjean have previously admitted to seeking specialist therapy.

Speaking to Finnish journalist Maria Veitola, the Alfa Romeo driver has opened up on his inner demons, not least his struggle to beat former teammate Lewis Hamilton.

"I trained myself to pain physically and mentally," he admits. "It got out of hand, and it became an addiction.

"No eating disorder was officially diagnosed," he continues, "but it was definitely there.

"It wasn't very healthy," adds the Finn, who admits to having lived on a diet of steamed broccoli, which he ate in between his rigorous training sessions.

"I wanted to be the best, and I thought I had to do that. If the team says that I have to weigh 68 kilos and I naturally weigh 73 kilos, then I'll do everything for that."

The 10-time GP winner admits that the Jules Bianchi's crash during the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix hit him particularly hard.

"To help me recover, I needed a psychologist whose first assessment was that I was almost like a robot who only wants to reach his goal and has no feelings at all. It unsettled me. It's true that at that time I had no other life than F1."

Thanks to the help he received, the Finn was able to overcome his anxiety, but admits that he found his final season with Mercedes particularly hard going and once again had to resort to 'outside assistance'.

"Last season (2021) was more difficult again, when the future was on the line, and I didn't know which team I would drive for.

"It was a big step to ask for outside help," he admits. "That's when you think when you're such a tough guy that you don't need help, that you can take care of things by looking in the mirror. But a professional knows how to ask the right questions and open a lot of locks. I'm not the only one there who sometimes has a hard time."

Referring to his time alongside Hamilton - team boss Toto Wolff hardly helping the Finn by referring to him as Wing Man - Bottas admits: "For someone with such a competitive nature, it was hard to accept. It was only in the last year that I could accept that Lewis was a better driver.

"I always wondered how I could beat him and win the world championship. It was quite an exhausting five years.

"I wanted to win everything right away, and then when it didn't happen, it was hard to accept."