Lando Norris has defended his self-critical and emotional approach in TV and media interviews amid a flurry of criticism. The Brit was unimpressed with his performance at the Bahrain Grand Prix and didn’t hold back in his assessment. The five-time Grand Prix winner struggled throughout qualifying, ending the session in P6 with his team-mate, Oscar Piastri, on pole position. Speaking after the race, he slammed his performance, stating: “I’m just not quick enough.”
On race day, he recovered to finish on the podium, but more errors crept in, including a race start violation that earned him a five-second penalty, costing him second place. “I feel like I’ve just never driven an F1 car before,” he sighed in the media pen. “I’m struggling a lot, I don’t know why. I need to try and find some answers.”
While many viewed Norris’ openness and honesty as refreshing, other pundits expressed concern about the Brit’s tendency to self-criticise and his inability to hide his true feelings during interviews. This tactic has ramped up the noise and speculation surrounding the 25-year-old.
However, Norris has defended his approach. “The thing is, I think it would be even harder for me to not show any of these things,” he explained. “A lot of this is – when I do my interviews and whatever – a lot of it is probably just getting my frustration out.
“It’s just because of not achieving what I want to achieve. It’s because of my desire to do well and my ambition to win. When I know what I can do and what I’m capable of, and I’m not even close to reaching that – like [in qualifying] – I’m very disappointed in myself.
“That’s just the way I am. I’m just so hungry to win and I work so hard to win. When it doesn’t go my way, and when I mess up myself, then I’m very disappointed in myself.
“But during the interviews and saying things I do, I don’t think necessarily have a bad impact on myself negatively. I’ve done it so much my whole life, I’ve learned how to block my own comments away from my thoughts.”
Norris now travels to the final leg of this early-season triple-header in Jeddah with a point to prove. The Bristol-born racer extended his championship lead to three points in Bahrain but has been heavily outscored by team-mate Piastri since the Australian Grand Prix.
Piastri is hot on Norris’ heels and will be confident that he can secure a third victory in four race weekends when the lights go out in Saudi Arabia. With Max Verstappen and Red Bull in crisis mode, McLaren are set up for an intra-team title fight unless George Russell can squeeze his way into the equation.
