Lando Norris, the rising star of Formula 1, has come clean about the immense pressure he is putting on himself, leading to costly mistakes on the track. After a disappointing performance at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix where a qualifying mishap landed him in 10th place on the grid, Norris admitted that his relentless pursuit of perfection is taking a toll on his performance.
In a candid moment on the F1 Nation podcast, Norris revealed that it’s not the championship battle that’s weighing him down, but his own sky-high expectations. The McLaren driver confessed that he needs to learn to accept that he won’t always be flawless and that striving for perfection is actually causing him to make more errors.
Currently sitting in third place in the championship, Norris finds himself 10 points behind Oscar Piastri and just 2 points ahead of Max Verstappen. Looking ahead to the upcoming race in Miami, Norris vows to adopt a more relaxed approach, trust in his speed – which he believes has been top-notch throughout the season, and focus on improving his Saturday performances to secure better grid positions.
“I need to relax! I was actually quite relaxed. I put my headphones on for the first time. I had never used headphones on the grid. I perform well when I’m having fun and feeling relaxed. I’m probably putting too much pressure on myself right now, not for any specific reason, not because of the championship. I’m just putting too much pressure on myself. I want to be on pole, I want to win, I want to be perfect, and I think I need to accept a bit more that I won’t be perfect and that I’m making mistakes because I’m trying to be perfect, instead of the other way around. I just need to calm down a bit and trust more in my speed because my speed today, and my speed in all the races this season, has been, I think, the best,” Norris shared.
As the F1 season unfolds, all eyes will be on Norris to see if he can strike the right balance between ambition and relaxation to unleash his full potential on the track and challenge for victory in the races to come.
