Lando Norris is having an outstanding 2024 season so far, as he has won three races and is currently second in the championship. Despite performing so well, he can be seen being hard on himself when he believes he could have done better. Former Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer is the latest to comment on Norris’ mentality and has advised him to stop being “hard on himself“.
The Romanian-American recently appeared on The High-Performance podcast when he was asked to name two drivers he would have liked to work with. The first name Szafnauer mentioned was three-time champion Max Verstappen. And the second name he mentioned was the Dutchman’s championship contender Norris.
Szafnauer revealed that while he had never worked with Norris, he knew the British driver’s father, Adam Norris. Hence, he believes he would have liked to work with the 24-year-old if he ever got the chance.
After stating that he would have liked to work with Norris, Sfaznauer went on to give the McLaren driver some advice. He stated,
“He can be really hard on himself. You know he blames himself for a lot of things. I think if you can just change that to being a bit more positive“.
McLaren is assessing ways to better support Lando Norris, who proved “very harsh on himself” whenever he made a mistake during the 2023 Formula 1 season.
Norris ended the campaign berating the “shit job” he had made of qualifying shootouts. This followed a slide in Abu Dhabi… pic.twitter.com/SxD56vsvsL
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) December 7, 2023
Things have changed quickly for Norris. It was only last year when he explained how he was growing increasingly impatient with McLaren failing to provide him with a car that is capable of fighting for the championship.
Now, that McLaren has provided him with a quick car, he is finding himself not performing at the level he would have desired.
Norris can still win the championship in 2024
Although Norris may have failed to get the best out of the MCL 38 in some races this year, he still has an opportunity to win his maiden championship. With six races remaining in the 2024 season, he needs to cover a 52-point deficit to Verstappen.
Although Norris would find this task incredibly difficult, it is not impossible. Verstappen seems to be struggling with the balance of the RB20 in most of the recent races and has failed to win any of the last eight races.
Hence, if Norris can win most of the remaining races and if Verstappen fails to finish in the podium places, then the Briton may just be able to cover up this huge deficit. However, if Norris makes any more mistakes, it could mean that Verstappen could wrap up his fourth consecutive title in no time.
