Lando Norris entered the F1 scene a few years ago as one of the biggest prospects for winning a world title. Since then, he has undoubtedly shown impressive skill on the track with McLaren. But with a growing rivalry against teammate Oscar Piastri and relentless pressure from the team to perform, coupled with social media hate, the 25-year-old Norris is feeling the heat. Following his fourth-place finish at the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix, where teammate Piastri clinched a dominating win, Norris has opened up about his fight against perfectionism and his mental health.
Norris had started off on a high with a race win at the Australia GP, where Piastri had spun out in front of his home crowd. But the pressure has consistently built up, with his rookie teammate outpacing him in several sessions. When Piastri first joined McLaren it seemed guaranteed that Piastri would be the No. 2 driver and the strategies would revolve around the British driver. But the scenario quickly changed as Piastri outperformed Norris.
A qualifying crash saw Norris starting 10th at the Saudi Arabia GP, and although he raced brilliantly and finished fourth, Norris has admitted that it’s difficult to avoid comparing himself to Piastri.
“I want to be pole, I want to win, I want to be perfect,” he confessed on the F1 Nation podcast. “I think I just need to chill out a little bit and have a bit more trust in my speed,” he added, acknowledging that trying to be perfect might, in fact, be counterproductive and that this constant desire for flawlessness could lead to costly mistakes.
Norris, over the past two seasons, went from a fan-favourite ‘nice guy’ that would make everyone laugh, to being criticised for an ‘inflated ego’ and undermining other drivers on the grid. The intense pressure is further compounded by the scrutiny he faces off the track on social media. While some fans still have his back, many accuse him of being overly self-assured. Comments about his “ego” and alleged arrogance have followed him for some time.
The Brit driver admitted to using his headphones before every drive to drown out the noise. “I put in my headphones for the first time ever,” he said. Apart from that, Norris, who had been looked at as the ‘party-boy’ after his public image turned bitter, admitted to having giving up alcohol.
“I haven’t had a single drink all year and I’m proud of that,” he said. “I just have to keep working hard and can’t go out and party. I’m competing against the best in the world here – Max [Verstappen], Oscar, Charles [Leclerc] and George [Russell]. If I make even the slightest mistake, I have to pay for it immediately.”
Throughout the season, Norris has been vocal about his imperfections and the pressure that he’s feeling. With a healthier mindset and the championship still wide open, he has a chance to make a comeback and prove the critics wrong. Whether that happens or not is to be seen, but the 25-year-old deserves credit for acknowledging the difficulty of balancing his ambition with the need to relax and trust his instincts.