Finishing P6 in the Bahrain GP qualifying, Lando Norris did not have a field day in Sakhir on Saturday. Afterward, he had to face the media and answer questions related to his underwhelming result, during which he did something that raised quite a few eyebrows.
Norris commented under Portuguese model Magui Corceiro’s post. Rumored to be his girlfriend since 2022, Corceiro has been at several of Norris’s races over the years, but is yet to confirm their relationship.
Norris, too, has stayed mum but has been spotted with Corceiro at multiple events, and on car rides. The McLaren driver’s latest social media activity has only confirmed what is the worst-kept secret in F1.
Norris follows Corceiro on Instagram and has liked her posts in the past. But those were ripples. This was a wave—because Norris had never done it before, and because he has now done so in the middle of an F1 interview.
Corceiro had posted a picture of herself with her own cat. A keen-eyed fan account on Instagram spotted Norris’ comment, saying – “Olaa Baluu [saying hi to her cat]” and posted, “Wow!!! Lando Norris left a comment for the first time on the post on the feed of model Magui Corceiro, the photos are of Magui with a white kitten!”
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The timing of his comment made fans certain that he had done so during the post-session interviews. And no sooner did this go viral, fans swarmed to the post and dropped their reactions.
Some, hinting at the unprofessionalism, asked for the McLaren PR team to get involved. “Pr team. Lando was literally live we could see him,” wrote a fan under an Instagram post put up by @f1gossipofficial, a page dedicated to highlighting paddock gossip.
“Girl, he was in an interview when he supposedly commented, lol PRRRR team,” wrote another fan.
Norris perhaps needs more media training and that too quickly. That’s what many fans think after seeing his interview with the F1 media team on Saturday after the Bahrain GP qualifying.
His body language and inability to answer any of the questions articulately and well enough, has stunned many. His words “I am just not quick enough” do not sound well for McLaren fans.
“I didn’t even go a tenth quicker. I’m just not quick enough,” Norris said.
“Honestly, no idea. No idea, just not quick enough. It’s just another day. [We will] look into things, see why I was struggling so much today and try again tomorrow.”
Norris needs to introspect his approach towards the media and his relationship with his girlfriend as well, to make life simpler for himself in a demanding F1 schedule. The Brit could be afraid of being the center of attention, maybe because of trying to focus on his racing. The media was relentless in covering his last relationship with Luisinha Oliveira, his ex-girlfriend when he went public with it.
Why Norris has not confirmed Corceiro relationship?
Before Norris began spending time with Corceiro, he and Oliveira were often seen walking into the paddock hand-in-hand, attending events together, and going out on dates.
The downside, however, was the lack of privacy. Norris, by his own admission, revealed that it took a toll on their relationship.
He may simply want to avoid going through that again with his new rumored love interest—and the fact that they’ve been sharing headlines for nearly three years now suggests that it’s working.
That said, fans eagerly await the two declaring their relationship soon. After all, the fact that they’re together is common knowledge. Recently, the duo were seen holding hands during a driving date in a $273,880 Lamborghini Urus.
Most convincingly, the five-time Grand Prix winner was caught planting a kiss on Corceiro’s cheek—captured by none other than the makers of Netflix’s critically acclaimed docuseries Drive to Survive, in its latest season released just before the start of the 2025 season.
