Following a disappointing performance in Bahrain, British McLaren driver Lando Norris is eager to bounce back this weekend in Jeddah at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Is Lando Norris on a path to make all the wrong moves? This question was raised on Thursday afternoon when the Englishman showed up in the Jeddah paddock, swept by a gentle breeze but with nearly 30 degrees in the air and over 60 on the overheated tarmac, wearing a nice sweater and a light jacket.
Had the rough draft he had turned in four days earlier in Sakhir (Bahrain), which seemed to lead him straight into depression (“I don’t feel good, something is not working,” he had said after securing a third place that more than rewarded his poor performance), completely driven him mad?
“I needed these few days off, I had to reset,” he reassured once night fell and the mercury dropped. “I could have used a few more days, but I was able to rest and disconnect a bit. But even in these moments, an athlete can’t ignore certain things, so I also thought about the difficulties I’m currently facing. I had to force myself to say that the start of the season was still very positive. Even though I don’t feel very good behind the wheel of this car, I’m leading the Championship and I would have signed up for that before the start of the season. So I tried to remind myself of all these good aspects.”
This monologue, reminiscent of therapy, continued with a more technical introspection on his current woes, while his teammate Oscar Piastri seems to be in full swing, with a much lighter spirit. “We’re on the right track, we’ve started to understand in which areas I was struggling, why I was struggling like this and we’ve tried to put things in place for this weekend,” Norris detailed, who made it to the podium in the first four Grand Prix. “Not everything will be solved just like that, but there are things to do in the approach or in my driving style. I still want to achieve a good result, but it’s early enough in the season for me to afford to try certain things that will pay off in the long term.”
So why beat himself up so much on Sunday night? “I probably have improvements to make in my attitude, but it’s just because I’m a perfectionist and right now, I feel like I’m not reaching my full potential. I’m hard on myself, but I’m convinced that it’s largely a good thing, even if I sometimes focus a bit too much on the negative. I need to improve on that.” Just like in choosing outfits according to the weather.
