Anthony Davidson says he is "saddened" by Lewis Hamilton's revelation about his struggles with mental health in his career, as he also discussed his own battle.
Davidson raced against Hamilton in go-karts when the pair were children and also in F1 when Hamilton joined McLaren and Davidson was at Super Aguri before that team folded after the 2008 Spanish GP.
After that, Davidson turned to the World Endurance Championship, whilst he also became a Mercedes simulator driver alongside his Sky Sports F1 pundit duties.
Reflecting on Hamilton's admission about his poor mental health after bullying at school and through his adolescent years, Davidson revealed his shock but felt Hamilton was the right person to bring mental health concerns into a wider public forum.
"Lewis has had a real positive impact on the sport,” Davidson explained on the Sky Sports F1 podcast.
"He’s got that authority as a seven-time world champion – whatever topic he chooses to talk about, people are going to listen, and he’s an intelligent human being anyway.
"I’ve grown up in the kart tracks with Lewis. I’ve been around him my whole life, I saw him arrive in those paddocks as an eight-year-old kid and as a trailblazer in our sport, an absolute trailblazer, and hats off to him.
"So for now, to be talking openly about mental health, it saddens me, in many ways. I’m kind of proud he has come out and touched on mental health.
"It saddens me to think of all those days that I spent with him at the kart tracks, that he was going through that, but now he’s in a position where he feels like he can talk about it."
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Davidson's own struggles
Davidson, who won the 2014 World Endurance title alongside Sebastien Buemi, also revealed that he had suffered panic attacks whilst on-track driving.
"I’ve suffered with anxiety issues, like real crippling anxiety in my days as a driver," he said.
"There was more to do with mental health, with health anxiety, which left me having panic attacks inside the car at times, and it’s awful.
“And for Lewis Hamilton to be talking about this, gives me the confidence to be able to talk about it as well."
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