McLaren driver Lando Norris leads the World Drivers’ Championship ahead of the F1 São Paulo GP in Brazil. The British driver led the 2025 F1 championship from Australia up until Saudi Arabia, surpassed by teammate Oscar Piastri. Norris reclaimed the lead following a dominant drive in Mexico, finishing over 30 seconds ahead of Charles Leclerc in P2.
Heading into the F1 São Paulo GP, Norris spoke in a print media session about his mentality as the new championship leader.
Norris on reclaiming F1 championship lead by one point
From winning his first home race in Silverstone to a mechanical failure in Zandvoort, Norris has had his fair share of ups and downs. Ahead of the F1 São Paulo GP, Norris leads the championship by a tight one-point margin. Norris continues to appear quite comfortable, noticeably quicker than his teammate over the past two races.
When asked about his feelings towards reclaiming the championship lead, Norris responded, “I mean, smile for a day and then move on. It doesn’t change anything. I’ll just leave that there.”
The Brit elaborated, “Smile about it — It obviously feels good in the moment. But by the time I get on my flight home, obviously I try and forget as many things as I can.
“So, review everything. I go to the team and spend my days there in terms of reviewing, preparing for this weekend, preparing for the rest of the season. It’s always nice to look back on things, but it doesn’t change anything in terms of my thoughts, or my processes.
“I take on board what was good; I understand what was good, why it was good, whether it did well, and obviously the contrary. Like, ‘Well, did I still not do well enough, what could I improve on?’ And that’s it.
“Especially in good times, I think I’m not influenced, or it doesn’t influence my feelings or my approach. Of course, in the past, some of the bad times I think do. And it’s easier for bad times to always feel more painful than good times feeling good. I think otherwise I’m quite good.
“And one of my things that I like is almost forgetting about it as quickly as possible and enjoying some days off and going again.”
Norris on mentality shift after mechanical failure in Zandvoort
One of the most notable moments in the 2025 championships came from Norris’ mechanical failure. Prior to Zandvoort, Norris was nine points away from Piastri. During the race, the McLaren drivers looked like they’d achieve a 1-2 finish until Norris DNFed due to an oil leak. With Piastri taking home the win, Norris dropped 36 points behind his teammate.
When asked if the mechanical failure led to any changes in his mentality ahead of the F1 São Paulo GP, Norris responded, “Not really. I think when you say those kind of things, maybe there’s a couple of little decisions here and there. Probably since then, three or four decisions along the way. And probably more when you’re taking risks, so in terms of racing situations and things.
“Maybe qualifying, you think, ‘Well, may as well just go for it.’ But it’s not like every approach, every lap I do, is, ‘I’ve got nothing to lose here, let’s try a bit more.’ That’s certainly not true.”
Norris credits his change in form to hard work, explaining, “I would put it more down to just having worked hard and having a very good team around me — 99% of it down to that, 1% a mix of various different things.
“But most results coming from work done, rather than mentality or things. But mentality’s improved, the approach has improved, preparation has improved.
“All of that has improved because of doing more work and working harder, and spending more time trying to understand things, rather than, ‘I’ve got nothing to lose now, I’ll just go for it.’ There’s maybe been two, three, four decisions along the way since then where I’m like, ‘Just risk a bit more.’
“I think much less than you think, and more of it down to just work.”
Norris’ mentality shift from last season
Last season, Norris received criticism for how he handled his championship battle. In an interview with The Athletic, the British driver claimed he was “not trying to think of the bigger picture” in terms of his fight against Max Verstappen.
At last year’s F1 São Paulo GP, Verstappen won from P17 on the grid while Norris finished P6 after starting from pole position. While not the definitive end to the championship battle, it certainly appeared to close that chapter for those observing.
This season, things have changed. Norris explained that he is considering the bigger picture of the championship more than each individual win.
Norris: “I’m in a much better space than I was back then”
When asked about how he mentality has shifted from the beginning of the season, Norris responded, “I think it’s difficult because there’s certainly some periods that were much tougher then, which I’ve worked hard to try and avoid as much as possible. So I’ve not had to deal with them.
“I certainly think my mentality and just general emotion, in a way, has gone down. I think that’s a good thing for me — Not that I’m an emotional person, but I care. So I think in terms of removing some of those cares, I think it’s helped.
“And that allows me just to forget I won last weekend. I had an incredible race in Mexico. I’m thinking, does it change anything? Absolutely not. It’s a very small achievement of a bigger puzzle.
“I think, when planning for P10 more often, or something, and you win a race, it’s incredible. When there’s a much bigger picture in mind and it feels like it means a lot less for a small amount of time.
“But I certainly feel like I can deal with a lot more now than I was doing at the beginning of the season. But I was also dealing with a lot more difficulties at the beginning of the season than I am now. So it’s difficult, but I would say I’m in a much better space than I was back then, for many different reasons.
“I definitely would say I’m much better now than what I was. It’s all part of the learnings. Do I wish I could have changed some things? Maybe. But would I be as good now as if I didn’t learn those things back then? Probably not.
“It’s all part of learning over time and making mistakes.”
