Feb.6 (GMM) Lando Norris says he heads into the brand new season extra relaxed and assured than ever, insisting self-belief – not swagger – has been the largest change after lastly proving to himself that he can win on the prime stage.
The McLaren driver, now working the #1 on his automotive after a breakthrough marketing campaign, has lengthy been open about his self-doubt and questions over his psychological toughness. However Norris says that modified the second outcomes started to reach.
“Did I feel I may very well be on pole for the primary time or win a race?” Norris mentioned. “After I did it, I assumed, ‘Ah, I can do it.’ That’s simply how I assumed and believed, for no matter purpose.”
He admits the previous yr marked a serious step ahead psychologically.
“I’ve positively improved in lots of areas – psychological preparation, psychological state, coping with good and unhealthy occasions,” Norris mentioned. “However I’ve to seek out my very own means. I can’t simply copy what others have finished prior to now. I want to grasp what motivates me.”
Norris can also be candid about not sharing the identical mindset as serial champions like Max Verstappen or Lewis Hamilton.
“It’s fairly clear I’ve a special mentality and a special strategy than Max,” Norris mentioned on the McLaren Know-how Centre. “Whether or not that’s good or unhealthy, you possibly can decide for your self. There are a lot of issues I love about him, and I want I had a bit extra of them right here and there.
“If you’re competing towards these guys, you need to be virtually good.”
Requested whether or not a single world title would fulfill him, Norris rejected the concept that his ambition stops there.
“I’m not Max or Lewis – six (titles) on one facet and three on the opposite,” he smiled. “And I don’t have their mentality. Is {that a} good factor or not? You resolve. However I need extra titles. I’m not stopping right here.”
On the 2026 image, Norris performed down favorite standing, suggesting Mercedes’ George Russell presently leads the bookmakers’ lists.
“However I’m with a group that’s received the final two world championships,” Norris added. “So I’m not missing confidence that we’ll be sturdy. Whether or not it’s first, second, third or fourth, I do not know. I’ve discovered to not have expectations – they only create stress for no purpose.”
Alongside Norris, Oscar Piastri has additionally emerged from a quiet winter, addressing lingering debate over McLaren’s much-criticised ‘papaya guidelines’ after a tense 2025 season.
“We’ve discovered some classes,” Piastri mentioned. “Some issues went properly, however there have been additionally some robust moments. Each I personally and the group want to determine how you can deal with these conditions higher.”
McLaren group boss Andrea Stella has already confirmed that the interior guidelines governing wheel-to-wheel racing will probably be adjusted for 2026, a transfer Piastri helps.
“Streamlining the foundations is a smart resolution,” the Australian mentioned. “We created some pointless complications for ourselves. The precept brings many positives – now it’s about fine-tuning it.”
Regardless of criticism from some followers who consider the system favoured Norris, Piastri insists he was by no means deprived.
“I had my honest likelihood,” he mentioned. “That shouldn’t change. It doesn’t imply all the things went completely, however there have been by no means any in poor health intentions. I by no means doubted the group’s good religion.”
Piastri accepts that perfection is unattainable in Components 1.
“You’ll be able to’t make the suitable resolution each time, and you’ll’t make everybody pleased,” he mentioned. “That’s the character of F1 – a group sport the place, ultimately, the prize goes to a person.”
