“Whoever follows a good path will have chairs, dangerous ones that invite them to stop,” Silvio Rodríguez said in his History of chairs, and after a short pause on the way, Marta García (Denia, Alicante, 21 years old) has resumed a journey that now has mental health as its starting point. The W Series driver has lived through a complex season, where the mind has been its greatest rival. Perfectionist and winner, anxiety overcame a talent overshadowed by fear, but even this setback has not managed to end the ambition of the Alicante. It is clear to him: “in the end what I like is running”, and he is already working on it with a single objective: “To come back as strong as possible.”
“After such a difficult time, how are you?”
“Good, I’m fine today.” It is true that this varies, in the end right now I am in a moment of disconnection in everything because I am now with the university, with the people in my class, with friends … and that makes you disconnect. In addition, I am also with my family at home and I feel a relief to be like this, because being so much abroad, in the US and with the bad experience I have had this year, because right now I feel good in the sense that I feel relieved to be here. But you have to work.
“Talk about college, friends, family … Did you miss a more ‘normal’ life?”
—This year, after how bad I have been in the races, you could say that I needed to get out to be able to disconnect and feel better. I missed it a little bit, but in the end what I like is running. It is true that this year psychologically I was not well and I needed to get out of that world to be able to recover a little, disconnect and feel like I am again.
“Was being burned the trigger that led you to know that you had to stop?”
-As it is. I have been a very bad year, psychologically I was not perfectly and since last year I had symptoms of anxiety that have accompanied me throughout this year and have not helped me at all in the races. More than anything else, I have come down quite a bit, I have also lost confidence as a rider even, because in the end when things don’t go well you lose confidence, and that has happened to me this year. I have noticed it a lot but hey, when the last races came I already had a constant level of stress and anxiety with me, and that was when I began to have physical symptoms of what anxiety is. In Zandvoort and also in Austin, where there was a point where it was difficult for me to breathe, I was dizzy, I was not well … In the race on Saturday it was difficult for me to breathe, I got out of the car crying because of how bad I had gone and how bad it was. I was and decided not to. The decision not to run was very hard but in the end, I thought for a moment about myself, about feeling good myself and I decided that the best thing was not to run the race, to relax, to try to be well, to stop thinking about results, about the what will they say… In the end we thought a lot about others and for once I said ‘I’m going to think about myself’. It is what matters, I have to be selfish, although in reality it is not being selfish, and so I decided.
“It was in the last few races that I started to have physical symptoms of anxiety.”
Marta Garcia
“How much does it cost to make a decision like this?”
—It costs because of course, for example I am with the PUMA team and I think and feel that the PUMA team has had or has great confidence in me as a pilot. Also the W Series because in the end they chose me, I was selected, you are racing and they give you the opportunity. So it’s like I felt that if I didn’t run I was going to disappoint someone. But I was supported by the W Series, the entire championship at all times, and they told me to do what was best for me and that they were going to respect whatever decision I made. That helped me, it is true that it costs, but there comes a time when you have to say ‘we have come this far’.
—How important is it to receive that endorsement of which you speak?
—It’s very important, because if you go to the championship and tell them what problem you have and they tell you ‘I’m very sorry but there are no excuses here’, in the end that also conditions you. If they tell you that, you think ‘I’ll have to run’, but the support I received from the championship and from PUMA was important to me, to make my decision. I was also going to make it without any doubt, it was a decision that had already been made no matter what people told me. I’ve always cared a lot about what people say, but for once in my life I believed that I had to be ‘selfish’ and put myself ahead.
– Just as you were clear that the W Series helped to vindicate the female figure in Motorsport, do you think this step you have taken serves to normalize mental health?
“Yes, this can also happen to anyone.” I have friends with anxiety problems and also family members. A lot of normal people have problems, but we see it as a weird problem, as if we are crazy or something. It is something that does not look good, but I think it should be normalized. I also saw it a bit like that and said, ‘what are they going to think if a pilot has anxiety or is bad’, but in the end seeing cases like Biles or Naomi Osaka they also give you the outside to take out what you have inside and comment on it . This has to be made known and is also part of your performance. It is something that must be said and that is totally normal.
—It also affected her self-confidence, but didn’t the podium at Spa make you think that the potential was really the same as always?
-Yeah right. You are losing a little confidence because with the bad results it happens, but when doing this third in Spa and seeing myself so strong in the rain, that in the end the conditions were quite bad because I said, ‘if I’m doing well, I’m one of the most fast on the track and the overtaking I have done, Marta do not get scratched ‘. I’m still the same, the level or the talent is still there and it’s just that you’re not where you need to be mentally. It is a boom of energy and motivation such a result, but when you have so many bad guys and only one good one, it leaves you very down.
“What is left of this season?”
—Apart from the super race that I liked at Spa and the overtaking of Powell, I prefer not to focus only on the results, to take everything more calmly, to look at it from a slightly broader perspective and well, to work the mental part which is very important. It is not necessary to go very crazy.
“Being left out of the top-8 and ensuring continuity now is the least of it, right?”
“Honestly, in Austin what I saw as important was my health.” It sounds strange to say, because what I want is to run, but at that time I did not see it as a priority. Right now I’m out of the W Series theoretically but we’ll see what happens. I am not going to go crazy, the world is not ending and there is still another opportunity or something else. Of course I will surely be able to make a selection to run next year and I am ready.
—You never ruled out other disciplines …
“I wouldn’t mind facing other challenges.” Other gaits, other driving, other cars are always good… In the end everything changes a bit and obviously I am open to all kinds of opportunities.
“Have you talked to a pilot who has been through a similar situation?”
-The truth is, no. No recently, I haven’t talked to anyone.
“There are several pilots who have passed through there.” An example might be Norris during his debut year in F1, and now look at his level.
-Yes Yes Yes. Lando for example had problems and in the end everyone has problems. Like him, now we need to work on the mental part this year and we’ll see what happens.
—Who did you speak to recently was Carlos Sainz, did you give him any advice?
“The truth is, yes, very nice.” I already knew him, but I was talking to him and he was also giving me Austin tips that were pretty good for me. We were looking at every curve and it helped me a lot.
“How do you see him with Ferrari?”
“Well, he told me it’s hard to adapt because a lot of things change, but I think he’s doing quite well.” I commented on it and there it is, I think that in nothing, little by little, we will see it there at the top.
—To finish, he always spoke of Hamiton as a reference and I am left with a phrase of his: “This is how you get up, not how you fall.”
-Exactly that’s it. Now you have to strengthen yourself, work and come back as strong as possible.
-Go for it!
-Many thanks!
#car #crying