Norris shares how past pressure is helping in 2024: 'I struggled a lot'
F1 News
Norris admits that he struggled with the pressure in the first few years of his Formula 1 career. Driving in the sixth year of his career, the Brit discusses how he now approaches a race weekend, especially with the added pressure of the title fight.
Norris opens up about how he has changed since start of F1 career
Speaking to the media before Monza, Lando Norris was asked whether recent pressures, notably fighting for the championship, have changed his driving style and how he now approaches a race weekend.
Norris admits that in the earlier stages of his career, outside pressure did have an impact on his track performance. "I struggled a lot with this when I started in Formula One. My first year, 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."
The McLaren driver gets specific about what added struggles he has been facing this season. "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."
While this pressure may have impacted their performance in the past, Norris shares that these experiences have actually made him better prepared for dealing with the newfound stresses of this season and are helping him. "But I think because I struggled a bit with it or quite a bit with it in the past, I feel like 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, 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."
This season has certainly had its fair share of newfound challenges for Norris, achieving not only his first career win in Miami but also another win in The Netherlands. With eight races to go in the 2024 season, Norris himself is 62 points away from Verstappen in the Driver Championship, while for Norris, together with teammate Oscar Piastri, McLaren are only eight points away from Red Bull in the Constructor Championship.
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