Since the beginning of his F1 career, McLaren driver Lando Norris has spoken candidly about his mental health and mentality. He’s discussed seeking support from his friends and family, as well as working with a mind coach, to improve his mental health.
Last year, Helmut Marko criticised Norris for having “mental weaknesses” — a statement that could perpetuate the stigma surrounding mental health in sports such as F1. With Norris currently runner-up in the World Drivers’ Championship to teammate Oscar Piastri, his mentality is often a point of contention with F1 fans.
When speaking to print media ahead of the F1 Azerbaijan GP, Norris spoke about his mental health and mentality shift throughout the season.
Norris: “I still make mistakes”
The McLaren driver discussed his struggles with the car at the beginning of the season, leading to errors in his driving. In China, Norris struggled with his brake pedals, taking him out of contention for the win. In Saudi Arabia, Norris crashed during Q3 of qualifying.
When asked about his improvement throughout the season, Norris responded, “I still make those mistakes. It’s not that I’ve not — I still make mistakes. I think some of the mistakes I make are maybe not to the same size. “
“There was a crash in Saudi. China was again several places. It cost a lot of points. It’s not that I don’t make mistakes. I try to improve in everything that I can, both on the track and off.”
“Understanding risk levels, accepting sometimes a half a tenth loss instead of trying to gain half a tenth. It can be the difference of actually making a mistake by three tenths and having a China problem or a Saudi problem. “
“I guess my risk balance improved. And also I think my driving, my ability to understand the car. I was struggling a lot more with the car then than I am now. A collection of different things. But all improved because of work behind the scenes.”
Norris on McLaren’s key to success
Norris admitted that there are many factors influencing McLaren’s current success in F1. The Woking-based team look primed to wrap up the World Constructors’ Championship at the F1 Singapore GP.
However, Norris emphasised the importance of the people, praising Team Principal Andrea Stella and CEO Zak Brown for changing the culture and mentality of the team.
“I mean there are many things, I could talk for hours about it. From my side, patience is probably the biggest key to a lot of things. But the key to the bigger turn of success over the last few years has just been workplace, mentality, and people.
“Of course, we have a new wind tunnel. You see these things. That is not the reason our car is winning races now. Maybe it plays a small part. “
“The thing that people will quickly overlook is just the things you see right in front of you, which is the people upstairs. The boys and girls who work on the car, who design the car, Andrea [Stella], Zak [Brown]. The atmosphere that they allow people to work in is better than ever. Therefore, the motivation is higher than ever. “
“Once you get those things in a good flow everything starts to take care of itself. I guess manufacturing and factory and all those things is great and helps. But it all starts with the people — especially the people in charge.”
