ET Canada: "I needed to do something to get back to myself." - McManus opens up at F1 Miami press conference about losing her self perception to the team over her years in F1

MIAMI, FLORIDA - As Formula 1 makes its hotly anticipated debut in Miami this weekend, in a freshly built track circling the Hard Rock Stadium, Dakota Elaine McManus gives a brutally honest insight into her mental state, and the toll that being a member of an F1 crew has taken on her both mentally and physically.

"I lost my sense of self. All of the travel, never truly being able to put down roots." McManus said in a press conference early this morning. "I just think that over my five years, most of my life and energy have been devoted to the team."

McManus has been with the team since she was eighteen, and looking back, the crew chief believes that while she was thankful for the chance, she thought she was too young and wonders if that critical first year contributed to her rocky mental state in 2019, which was invasively followed by members of the team filming Netflix docuseries 'Drive to Survive'.

"This year specifically, after Jeddah and Imola, I realized that I needed to do something to get back to myself, to get in tune with the things that make me who I am outside of the sport. That's what my set at EmoNite was for, a way to connect with my roots."

The controversial F1 personality headlined EmoNite Brooklyn, delivering a raw throwback set that took patrons back to the early 2000s, and raised many eyebrows about her mental state following the release of the Leclerc Photos and how the twenty-three year old was coping under the circumstances.

"This job takes a lot out of you, especially working under Red Bull racing. Helmut Marko is a difficult man to work with, and I don't think I'm ever going to recover from the way I was treated, some of the things that he said. But that's a story for another day."

It's no secret that upper management at AlphaTauri's senior team have been very critical of McManus since the season began in Bahrian and then again after she announced she would be taking a two week mental health break from the high stakes sport following a raw and personal moment that was aired on live television.

"It's time for me to try something new, and to branch out. I don't know where the future is going to take me now that I'm out of contract, but that's part of the adventure, isn't it? For now, I'm going to focus on coming back to myself again, and being who I am instead of who other people want me to be."

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dakotaelainee

tagged mickschumacher

location tag: miami beach, florida

caption: baby schumi can do many things, but reading a map is not one of them

**video plays of lance stroll and mick schumacher attempting to high five each other while surfing before falling off their boards**

tagged: lancestroll and mickschumacher

caption: look at these bloody drongos

tagged yukitsunoda

music: night changes by one direction

love you, baby. thank you for being by my side through the hardest few months of my life ❤️

LanceStroll

tagged: dakotaelaineee

caption: photos taken just moments before disaster. and by disaster i mean she tripped on a rock and fell on her face and it was kind of funny

dakotaelainee reposted your story with the following comment: 😪💅

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DakotaElainee

Miami Beach, Florida.

tagged yukitsunoda, mickschumacher and lancestroll

liked by daniilkvyat, yukitsunoda, charles_leclerc, alphataurif1, lilymhe and others

dakotaelaineee i could never let this go, there's more to life than chasing ghosts // neckdeepuk

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lancestroll uhm im sure you got pictures with my face in them ... so where are they?

mickschumacher she tried to teach yuki how to surf . . . yukitsunoda you arent half bad mate !

yukitsunoda ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

-------> dakotaelainee love you darling ❤️

danielricciardo3 theyre nothing like the waves back home though, lets be real

------> dakotaelainee there aint nothing like australian surf

--------> virgini.mcmann to even compare the two is vile

jamiechadwick QUEEN

f1 Wholesome !

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YukiTsunoda

Florida, United States of America

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liked by marino_sato, dakotaelainee, estebanocon, pierregasly, virgini.mcmann and others

yukitsunoda ずっと 

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pierregasly the most romantic man in f1 everybody ! love ya, mate

user7957 for those who don;t know, the translation for the characters in the caption means 'forever' or 'always' !

dakotaelainee love you, darling <3

f1wags what a man, standing by dakota through these last few weeks. i think we would all be so lucky to have a man like yuki.

------> virgini.mcmann my future bro in law is what all men should aspire to be

--------> sparkletsunoda HOLD ON! FUTURE BROTHER IN LAW

-------------> virgini.mcmann obvs not this season, but i can see it happening soon ! my sister has never been this happy with anybody else.

VOICEMAIL MESSAGE FROM DAKOTA MCMANUS TO DANIIL KVYAT

DAKOTA: Hey Dany, it's Kota. It's, uh, it's been a while. I miss you. Who am I kidding, I miss you more than words could convey. *mumbling* I'm sure you've been following the news. Thanks for sticking up for me after Jeddah, by the way. I needed that. Uh, so clearly you've seen that the past few *clears throat* past few months have been kind of shite for me. Pierre said you were starting to get worried. *incoherent mumbling* Call me back? Please? I actually really do miss you a lot, it's been almost half a year since I last saw you, if you can believe it, and it would be really nice to hear your voice. *three second pause* I love you, Dan, and I hope life is treating you okay. Shit, I meant I love you like a brother...now that people know about me and Charles I can't just throw my damn love around any more. People think it's strange. Anyways *deep breath*, call me.