Speaking ahead of this weekend’s F1 Italian Grand Prix in Monza, McLaren’s Lando Norris reflects on his heartbreaking late stage DNF at last weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix.
Lando Norris endured a difficult Dutch GP weekend last week. Despite seemingly having the upper hand throughout free practice, the young Briton was narrowly beaten to pole by his teammate. Things went from bad to worse on Sunday when a technical issue on his MCL39 forced a retirement from P2.
Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Italian GP, Norris reflected on last Sunday’s DNF.
Lando Norris admitted it was frustrating not to finish the Grand Prix given his pace. Despite this, he claims it was easy to move on as the circumstances were out of his control.
“I mean, of course, it’s frustrating,” Norris said when asked about his retirement. “But at the same time, it’s frustrating, the reasoning of it makes it pretty easy to just move on from, you know. If it was something I did, I’d probably be still picking myself or I’d still be pretty down about it.
“But I think the fact is, it had nothing to do with me. It had nothing to do with what I did or how I was driving, or my decisions. It’s pretty easy and pretty easy just to go, well, that’s life. You know, what can I do?
“So it’s surprisingly easy, probably for myself to put it behind and look at this weekend. So that’s what I’m excited for.”
Given Lando Norris’ history of being harsh on himself following errors and poor results, his response came as a surprise. Reflecting on his past, Norris explained this is an aspect he has worked on personally.
Norris claims that while mistakes do still affect his mentality, he has worked hard to stop this from affecting other aspects of his work.
“I mean, it’s been one of the things I’ve been working on a lot,” he said. “Away from the track, separate from my driving and just the general stuff. But, you know, there’s a change and there’s definitely things I’ve improved on. It doesn’t mean that I don’t get annoyed and frustrated when I don’t do well.
“I may make mistakes and lose out on pole or don’t win races, you know. I still get frustrated by those moments and I still get down and whatever. But I think it’s just something I’m much better at now is dealing with it and not letting it affect anything else, whether it’s the people around me or my work for the following weekend, my work back at MTC, whatever it might be.”
He was then pushed further on last weekend’s technical failure. Given the closeness of the title battle, the loss of points could prove crucial. Given the uncontrollable failure, Norris was asked if talks within the team have been tense following the F1 Dutch GP.
Norris said there are no ill feelings amongst the team, putting the failure solely down to bad luck.
“No, I mean, it’s just something that happens. It’s not Andreas’ fault. It’s not Zac’s fault,” he replied. “You know, we look back on, I think it was 60-something races, without a technical failure, without any issues. I think that’s a record for ourselves. I don’t know if it’s a record in Formula 1, but it’s something we’re pretty proud about.
“So for that to happen now, that’s just being unlucky. You know, it wasn’t a bad job by anyone. It was just, yeah, various things coming together and then just being unlucky. So, you know, Andrea’s, Zac, they apologise because it feels like it’s their behalf to apologise, but it’s not his fault or Zac’s fault.
“I don’t know what I’m going to say in those moments, and I don’t really know what they want to say either. They apologise because they feel like they’ve let me down, the same as I apologise when I feel like I’ve let them down.”
Considering the Championship implications of his Dutch GP result, The McLaren man took it in his stride. He again placed blame away from the team and placed his focus firmly on the remainder of the season.
“It’s life,” he quipped. “You just can’t do anything about it. I can literally only look ahead to the next few races and then try and do more than I’ve ever done.
“But yeah, that’s it. If I lose the championship by those points, then I just have to keep my chin up, my head held high, and try and do it again next year. But, you know, I can’t dwell on those moments too much.
“It’s not anyone’s direct fault. Even if it was, I just have to take it on the chin and move on. So that’s what I’m trying to do.”
