Having good people around him has been the biggest help to New Zealand driver Liam Lawson coping with a challenging first season in Formula 1.
Lawson has been through the ringer in 2025.
He was thrust into Red Bulls top team at the start of the year, but lasted just two races before he was demoted to the junior Racing Bulls team.
Since then he has had an up and down season.
A lot had been expected of the 23-year-old but like all drivers he had to learn to cope with everything else that goes on with one of the biggest sports in the world.
That started with the pressure and expectation in the highest level in motorsport.
"We get introduced to it in Formula 2 though it is nowhere near the level of Formula 1, but I think the main thing with Formula 1 is the longer you spend in it the more you get use to it," Lawson said.
"It's a lot of pressure and a lot of noise and for me the main thing I've had is just try to keep good people around me, people that I trust and can talk to."
Every week there were podcasts and reports speculating the future of drivers and with Lawson in the cut throat Red Bull stable, his name was regularly mentioned.
Lawson said he had support to cope with the pressure and media scrutiny.
"I've had a performance coach since I was quite young when I first moved to Europe when I was 16.
"People that I trust to make sure that I'm not going too far, left field of what I should be doing or what I should be thinking or talking about."
However, he realised it was all part of the job at this level.
"The mental side of Formula 1 is the hardest part maybe, dealing with the pressure of being in the sport, a lot of noise, a lot of media and even from within the team a lot of pressure.
"Trying to perform under pressure is a thing we spend a lot of time focusing on.
"Trying to stay grounded when you have good weekends or bad weekends and keep the mind reset for the next one."
Lawson would love another season with Racing Bulls but knows what it will come down to.
"Results, points... for us it's extremely close and to catch Williams and be P5 in the constructors [championship] would be a massive result for this team."
Racing Bulls was currently seventh in the standings.
"The consistency we had before the summer break we need to find that again."
Lawson was 15th in the standings with 20 points. He had been out of the points in the last two races and goes into this weekend's round in Azerbaijan knowing he needed another top ten finish to keep the critics at bay.
He said there was so much talk and rumours in the sport that he was learning to try and ignore as much as he could.
"Trying to block out as much of the noise as possible and try and put as much focus on the driving and performance side of the sport.
"I think it is easy to get lost in everything else."
