Norris’ confident in title pressure after overcoming early-career nerve struggles
Lando Norris is confident he can handle the pressure of a title challenge if he continues to close in on Max Verstappen, because he worked hard to overcome similar scenarios early in his Formula 1 career.
Verstappen holds a 70-point advantage over Norris with nine races to go, meaning the McLaren driver is still a big outsider in the drivers’ championship. However, following a dominant win in Zandvoort, where Norris overtook Verstappen and secured maximum points, questions about mounting a serious challenge have increased. The 24-year-old admits that he struggled to manage pressure early in his F1 career, but said that he now feels ready to manage a championship push.
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“I think because I struggled a lot with this when I started in Formula 1… Like my first, second year and into my third, because I struggled with it so much back then, I feel like I learned pretty well how to handle it,” Norris said. “That’s also helped me in the position that I am now.
“I know I’m maybe not directly in the fight of a championship where I’m neck and neck with Max, but just dealing with more questions and the pressure of everyone thinking that I have to deliver every single weekend, also knowing myself that I have to deliver every single weekend… But I think because I struggled quite a bit with it in the past, I’m able to deal with it in a much better way now. And therefore, it doesn’t have much of an effect.
“There still is [pressure], and I know there’s more pressure. The team are probably going to feel a little bit more pressure. And externally, there will be more pressure on me. But it’s also up to me to deal with it in the way that I feel best.
“And at the same time I don’t really feel it that much. I’m comfortable that I just have to go out and drive. That’s all I can do really, not think about these external things. The place I am now, fighting for wins and fighting in the championship, honestly I feel like it’s another weekend.”
Norris admitted he does suffer from nerves when competing in Formula 1, but doesn’t relate them specifically to the championship battle or fighting for wins.
“I don’t think of [the extra pressure] at all,” he said. “I think there’s always pressure. I still get so nervous for qualifying. For the races, I still get just as excited and just as nervous. I don’t eat; I barely eat anything on Sundays. I struggle to drink anything on Sundays, just because of nerves and pressure. But I think, how can you turn that into a positive thing, how do you not let it affect you in a bad way, and how can you actually use it in a good way to help you focus on the correct things?
“I’m sure I do [get nervous] now and probably will forever, when you enter Q3 or any qualifying lap when you have to go out and deliver. I know it gives you butterflies every time because there’s so much nerve, so much pressure. And if you do one thing, brake centimeters or a meter too late or you turn in the wrong timing or whatever it is, finished, game over.
“The knowledge of that just puts you under a very tense feeling. But also, it’s an amazing feeling at the same time that I don’t feel like you can replicate in many other sports and many other things. I still get nervous, and I probably will forever get nervous.”