Ferrari's Carlos Sainz said on Thursday that he is suffering from stress caused by the time-consuming task of finding a team for next season.
The Spaniard, who will be replaced at Ferrari by seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton next year, said it was difficult to relax, but that he was not allowing the workload to distract him during race weekends.
Speaking ahead of this weekend's British Grand Prix, the third event in a triple-header of three races on successive weekends, he explained how difficult his position has been.
"Mondays to Thursdays, before I arrive at a track, there are a lot of phone calls, a lot of time spent on the phone, meetings with my management team, but also with the teams that I'm talking to -- trying to understand and trying to have a full picture of the situation," he said.
"It's quite stressful and time consuming. Instead of being able to fully disconnect and re-charge, my mind is still somewhere else thinking about my future and wondering what it will be.
"So, it's not an ideal situation. At the same time, when I arrive on Thursday, I feel like I'm able to perform as soon as I get into an engineering meeting.
"As soon as I put the helmet on I feel 100 per cent in the car. The Austria weekend proved I'm still at a very high level, delivering one of my best seasons.
"But as I've always said, I'm not going to be a hypocrite -- I believe there's always more performance in having a stable contract situation than being where I'm at now."
Sainz has been linked to Alpine, Williams and Sauber, who will become Audi in 2026 with the change of regulations.
"What I have thought about is not to judge the move in the short term, or in the next few races or for next year," said Sainz.
"You always need to see and analyse with perspective in mind - was this the right move for Carlos in five years or not?
"That's why I'm going to take all the time possible that I can to make such an important decision because it involves the outcome of the next few years of my life. I think it's valid for me to give myself the time."
AFP