Lando Norris went in-depth to explain his situation as he notes how car changes have affected him from last year to F1 2025 and his mindset.
After opening up on his mindset post the Bahrain GP weekend, McLaren’s Norris expanded on his state of mind and how he is tackling everything amid an intense competition to claim the F1 world championship. The Brit is in the prime position to win it considering the pace of his car.
He certainly has competition from teammate Oscar Piastri, while the likes of George Russell and Max Verstappen are in the game albeit slightly at a distant. When everything is working with Norris leading after four rounds, the Brit is not in a happy mood at all.
The car is not responding like it did last year. Whatever he learnt last year is not working this year. He is having to re-adjust which is messing his mind. He knows he has it in him and he can deliver, but things has become extra complicated on his end of things, which then is affecting his mindset as well.
Considering that he is always hard on himself, Norris is showing emotions, which is making headlines, where pundits and fans are questioning ‘if he can actually deliver?’ Many are rating Piastri’s chances to be higher. The Australian is quietly doing the job, stepping up on his weaknesses.
Team boss Andrea Stella noted that the car changes this year has not suited Norris as much, which is why he is making smaller mistakes leading to bigger consequences. The Brit adjusting to the new car, reassuring himself that he can do the job and deliver no matter how difficult it is.
Time after Bahrain, what’s in the mind –
Norris: “I mean I needed a couple of days off, I needed a reset. I probably would have liked a few more days altogether, but I made the most of my three days relaxing, kind of getting away from a little bit. But at the same time I think with every athlete’s mind and every driver’s mind, as much as you try and get away, you’re still thinking of a lot of things. So for a lot of my time I was still thinking of the difficulties that I’ve been struggling with, but at the same time also it’s still been a very good start to the year. I’ve had the force myself to think of what a success the start of the season has been. Yes, I may have been a bit better but still leading the championship after not being happy, after not feeling comfortable in the car. It’s still a start to the year that I would have dreamed of before the season started. I think I’ve tried to remind myself of some of the positives. There’s still been quite a few of them. But there’s still a lot of me and being myself has been trying to figure out the issues, the struggles, the reason behind it all.
“The most difficult thing is trying to find the answers to that, which I think we’re on the right track. I think we always have to figure out some things on where I struggle, why I struggle, the reasons for these struggles. I’m already trying to implement things for this weekend. I’m trying to improve in some of those areas. It’s not like I’m going to come into this weekend and I’m full of confidence and I know that things are going to turn around. I still think there are things I’m going to be struggling with because certain things you cannot change at the minute. But there are certain things that I’m able to maybe re-look into from an approach point of view, from a driving style point of view, stuff which I probably never had to think of necessarily before. It’s just not my normal way of driving or thinking. And it goes from there. So it’s also a weekend where I want to perform, I want to do well. But it’s early on in the season where if I can try to work on some things here and in some areas, then it will pay off in the long run.”
What’s the ailment –
Norris: “It’s a mix. This was an error. But then why did I make that error? It’s again down to some of these reasons. I completely hear what you’re saying. I think you’re definitely giving back to Bahrain. There’s the style that they’re taking off the track, which I think is more just a stuff like. There’s then the mistake in qualifying and things like this. From a driving point of view and the qualifying stuff, there’s more the reasoning for why some of these things have happened, which comes back to some of my struggles. There’s definitely a lot about this. The things that I can’t talk about and the struggles that I’m having to feel the limit of the car and understand the limit of the car, which is completely different to last season and just not allowing me to drive in the same way and with the same abilities that I could perform at a very, very high level last season. There’s also those severe things like the snap out of turn one, especially in a qualifying lap, the one thing you want to avoid is a snap out of one because the tyre temperatures are up and the rest of the lap is just going downhill. It’s both, but a lot of these things will get ironed out over time if we can just fix the core and the style of these issues.”
Dad’s answers in podcast in relation to mindset, handling –
Norris: “You can look at it both ways. I’d probably say it’s been a good thing at the minute. It’s still been a good start to the year. But I think the ability to come into this weekend with a slightly different approach with a different mindset of things, different things to try. I prefer coming into the weekend now with some of these knowledges rather than having to wait two weeks before I can implement some of these things. I think the fact that it’s been quite a compressed start to the season has been a good thing. Because I think if it’s more spread out, sometimes you allow yourself to think too much about maybe just one weekend off and the next weekend will be fine.
“And you kind of maybe are forced to think of resolving some of the issues as quickly. No, honestly I’m not too fussed. Of course I would like to get back in the simulator and be able to try different things and figure out some of these things. Some of which will take more time from a team point of view, understanding what has changed so much from last year to this year with the car and those kind of things. But from a driver point of view, it’s better that I can learn from the last few weeks. I really have worked a lot with my team over the last three days. And try and put them into practice as quickly as possible.”
Beat teammate, rivals –
Norris: “I just want to outpace the field. I don’t really care who. And none of my feelings…there’s been plenty of times over the last few years when I’ve had a great position in qualifying or a great race and I’m feeling disappointed. That’s because most of my enjoyment comes from knowing that I’ve achieved what I know I can achieve in the qualifying or race disregarding whether that’s first or second or third or whatever. So it’s not a… at the minute, I pay the price for these mistakes. But it’s not because I’ve been behind any certain people or anything that you’re insinuating. It’s just…I know I can be so much better and perform at a much higher level than what I’m doing now. My level of confidence was very high at the end of last season. Not for any other reason. But I just understood the car. I understood how to drive it. And I can go out and execute things perfectly. No, I cannot, just because my feelings are not there.
“My way of driving is not suited at all. And I just hate not being able to know how I’m going to go out and perform in the qualifying now. Last year, if you asked me…that’s a lie. Last year, if you had asked me, are you confident you’re going into qualifying? I would have been much more likely to say yes than what I am now. And that’s just because of how I feel in the car itself. No, it’s not for any reason. But I know what I can do. And I know what I’m doing. And I know what I can do and achieve is a lot higher than what I’m doing now. So the fact that I’m still leading the championship, the fact that society is not being that dreadful. Probably gives me more hope than anything else. That if I can get things to click and move in the right direction. That I won’t feel like I need to suffer so much anymore.”
How to get through the spiral –
Norris: “It’s a balance I think I’m clearly still trying to improve on. Sometimes this week I try to remind myself of the good things. I think of the bad stuff, the negative things more than I think of the positives. I feel reminded that I’m leading the championship that I won the first race and I have been on the podium and things like that. I have to get reminded of that, rather than just being able to remind myself. And I think from that attitude, it’s always a good thing to improve and work on. It’s also because I want to do well. And I want to get the most out of every session. I want to achieve my potential. And at the middle, I’m just not achieving my potential. And there’s no reason for me to be happy with that. I guess I know I’m hard. And I know I’m on top of myself. But for 95% of it, I think it’s a good thing. I think it’s what makes me who I am.
“And makes me have a chance in Formula 1. And be with the crowd. And be fighting for a world championship. But there is, and I accept that there’s probably the last few percent, which can be a very important few percent, where I probably say too many negatives and that gets into my own head and I don’t think of the positives as much as I should. If I could tell myself at the beginning of the year, I could be leading the championship after four races. I would probably be very happy. On these journeys, there’s a lot of things that I would be so happy about, starting the season off with how the first race in Australia went, achieving the podiums, turning a bad defender into still having a podium. There are so many things that I should be happy about. I probably just don’t remind myself enough of them. And that’s probably the main area I would say that I need to tackle.”
No rally testing –
Norris: “I really wanted to come in here and say, ‘Yeah, it’s true’, but it’s not. I said a couple of years ago, I’m not allowed. Zak doesn’t let me drive rally cars, probably for a good reason, but I’ve said many times I would love to. It’s so weird how people come up with such things in the media. That’s how terrible it is sometimes, rather than just asking me before publishing things. I have a lot of respect for rally drivers. They are definitely crazy and slightly insane, but I would love it because it’s a very different aspect compared to what I do now. But it’s still driving, it’s still cars and all those things, [just] probably a bit more on the dangerous side, so I don’t know how much I would love it. But it’s another thing in my life that I would love to tick off at some point, get to experience and have a go, so hopefully that can become a headline at some point and can become the truth.”
Here’s Lando Norris on Bahrain, Andrea Stella on car suiting Oscar Piastri
