Lando Norris 'forced himself' to recognise McLaren dream after two-day reset

Lando Norris has detailed how he had to "force myself" to think about the positives of his F1 season after a troubled Bahrain Grand Prix.

A mistake in qualifying left Norris sixth in Sakhir, as he then claimed he was "clueless" in a shockingly harsh verdict on himself before yet more mistakes in the grand prix itself, including a five-second time penalty for parking out of his grid-box. 

Throughout his career, Norris has earned a reputation for being exceedingly harsh on himself, with McLaren boss Andrea Stella leaping to his defence in Bahrain, citing the examples of previous world champions he had worked with. 

Norris still maintains the lead of the drivers' championship by three points from his team-mate Oscar Piastri, as he explained how the gap between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia was key to resetting himself. 

"I needed a couple of days off and needed a reset, I probably would have liked a few more days off, but I made the most of them," Norris told media including RacingNews365. 

"I think with every athlete, as much as you try to get away, you're still thinking about a lot of things, and for a lot of the time, I was still thinking about the difficulties that I've been struggling with. 

"I've tried to force myself to think of what a success the start of the season has been, yes, I know it could have been better.

"I have to get reminded that I'm leading the championship, won the first race and been on the podium every race, so I have to be reminded of them rather than being able to remind myself. 

"I want to achieve my potential, and at the moment, I am not achieving my potential, and there is no reason for me to be happy with that. 

"I know I am hard on myself, but for 95% of it, that is a good thing, and it is what makes me who I am, and makes me have a chance in Formula 1 and to be with McLaren and fighting for a world championship.

"But I accept there have been times] when I say too many negatives and it gets into my own head, and I don't think of the positives as much as I should. 

"If I told myself I'd be leading the championship after four races, I'd be very happy, but probably don't remind myself [of good things] enough, and that's the main area I need to improve."

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Adaptions for Norris

In his consideration of the issues plaguing him, Norris believes there are steps in place to aid him in Jeddah, but that there will not be a full reversal this weekend.

"But a lot of me has been trying to figure out the issues, the struggles, and the reasoning behind it, which is the most difficult thing," he added.

"We have started to figure out some things where I struggle, why I struggle and the reasons for these struggles and trying to implement things for this weekend.

"I'm trying to improve in those areas, so it is not like I want to come into this weekend and I'm full of confidence and know that things are going to turn around. 

"There are still things I'm going to be struggling with because there are certain things that you cannot change, but there are things I'm able to, from a driving style point of view. It is stuff I've never had to think of before, it is just not my normal way of driving or thinking."