Psychologist has helped me become a better driver – Grosjean

Haas driver Romain Grosjean admitted he has become a better driver, father and man since first seeing a psychologist in 2012.

Grosjean, who made his Formula One debut for Renault in 2009, developed the reputation of being accident-prone early in his career.

The French driver was involved in numerous first-lap incidents, even described by former Red Bull driver Mark Webber as a “first-lap nutcase”.

Grosjean was handed a one-race ban in 2012 after triggering a crash at the Belgian Grand Prix in his Lotus, which put a huge dent in Fernando Alonso’s hopes of become a three-time world champion.

Since then the 29-year-old has been using a psychologist to analyse his decision making process, and said it has improved him in all aspects on and off the track.

“[In 2012] I was very quick. I would sometimes make the wrong judgement at the first turn of a race,” Grosjean said in a questionnaire on SAFEisFAST.com.

“That judgement takes two or three tenths of a second. They key questions was to understand, why?

“Why was I making the wrong decision? Why was I compromising my race and other people’s race at the first corner? From there I moved on.

“It was quite interesting for me to go through that process. It was a tough time but I learned a lot and it’s helped get me to where I am today.

“I’ve been seeing a psychologist since September 2012 and Spa-Francorchamps. It has helped me a lot to become a better driver, a better father and a better man.

“We use engineers to set-up the car and we use coaches to improve our physical performance. Why wouldn’t you use a psychologist to improve your brain and the way it works? That’s why I did it.”

Grosjean, who swapped Lotus for new-boys Haas in the off-season, is fifth in the drivers’ standings after finishing sixth and fifth in Australia and Bahrain.