Lando Norris had concerns about his car ahead of crashing during qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The McLaren driver revealed he took a couple days off to reset following last weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix.
Norris finished third at the fourth race of the season, having not won since the opener in Australia back in March.
He faces a battle to return to winning ways in Jeddah on Sunday after a 150mph crash in the third qualifying session.
After losing control on turn four he slammed into the barriers, meaning he will start the race in 10th on the grid.
It came after Norris had set the fastest time in second qualifying.
Meanwhile, he could be heard saying ‘f***ing idiot’ over the team radio after confirming he was unharmed.
The incident occurred just days after Norris made a worrying admission about his McLaren.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, the Brit explained: “I mean I needed a couple of days off, I needed a reset.
“I probably would have liked a few more days altogether, but I made the most of my three days relaxing, kind of getting away from it a little bit.
“But at the same time I think with every athlete’s mind and every driver’s mind, as much as you try and get away, you’re still thinking of a lot of things.
“So for a lot of my time I was still thinking of the difficulties that I’ve been struggling with, but at the same time also it’s still been a very good start to the year.
“I try to force myself to think of still what a success the start of the season has been.
“Yes, I know I could have been better, but still leading the championship after not being happy, after not feeling comfortable in the car, it’s still a start to the year that I would have dreamed of before the season started.
“So I think I try to remind myself of some of the positives, which there’s still been quite a few of, but there’s still a lot of me and being myself I’ve been trying to figure out the issues, the struggles, the reasoning behind it all.”
“I know I can be so much better and perform at a much higher level than what I’m doing now,” he added. “My level of confidence was very high at the end of last season. Not for any other reason but I just understood the car, I understood how to drive it and I could go out and execute things perfectly.
“Now I cannot just because my feelings are not there, my way of driving is not suited at all. I just hate not being able to know how I’m going to go out and perform in the qualifying lap. Last year if you asked me… maybe that’s a lie but… but last year if you asked me are you confident going into qualifying I would have been much more likely to say yes than what I am now, and that’s just because of how I feel in the car itself.
“It’s not for any reason but I know what I can do and I know what I’m doing and I know what I can do and achieve is a lot higher than what I’m doing now.
“So the fact that I’m still leading the championship, the fact that the start of the year has not been dreadful probably gives me more hope than anything else that if I can get things to click and move in the right direction that I’m hopeful that I can start to become much stronger.”
Norris heads into this week’s race top of the Drivers’ Championship standings ahead of team-mate Oscar Piastri.
However, he is just eight points ahead of reigning world champion Max Verstappen in third.
The Dutch driver will start on pole in Saudi Arabia after capitalising on Norris’ misfortune.
McLaren have won three of the four races so far this season after Piastri’s wins in China and Bahrain.
Verstappen was victorious at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit last year, though, his second win in the race.
