Lando Norris pinpoints major F1 title misconception: 'It was really the opposite'

Lando Norris has refuted the idea that his retirement from the Dutch Grand Prix took the pressure of the F1 drivers' championship battle off him, arguing it was the opposite.

The McLaren prevailed against Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri, beating the pair by two and 13 points, respectively, across the campaign, which crescendoed with a three-way title decider at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

However, after the trip to Zandvoort, where Norris suffered a mechanical retirement, he found himself 34 points adrift from his team-mate.

This developed the widely-held narrative that he no longer had anything to lose and that it could free him of the weight of expectation that comes with fighting for a maiden crown.

But the 11-time grand prix winner was keen to disavow that notion after clinching the title at the Yas Marina Circuit.

When asked by media, including RacingNews365, if his reliability failure in The Netherlands helped free him to find his true performance over the final rounds of the year, he replied: "I honestly would just want to say no.

"It didn’t allow me to relax. Like, when I see 34 points against a guy who's in the same car, who's doing an incredible job, who I know is incredibly quick, that didn’t fill me with confidence.

"And it wasn’t like, 'I got nothing to lose now, I can just go.' I felt like I was trying to do everything I could before, and I continued to try and do everything I could after."

The 26-year-old explained how it pushed him to raise his game, as he set about clawing back the 18 points he had lost when he retired from second place.

Having to "dig deep" coincided with Piastri losing form, which culminated in Norris reclaiming control of the title fight at the Mexico City Grand Prix, with four rounds to go.

"But I just had to step up what I was doing away from the track... the people I was working with, I added more people to that group. I had to work harder both on the simulator and here at track," he added.

"I had to change my approaches. I had to change my... yeah, like a lot of people do. I had to dig deep and try and understand more things quicker and in a more advanced way than I ever have before.

"That’s what gave me the advantage I had – not, 'Oh, the pressure’s off, I can go and do what I’d like to do.' It was really the opposite.

"I was like, 'Oh, shoot. I’m quite a long way behind against a pretty freaking fast driver, and I’ve got to step it up.'

"And I got to be more myself because of external factors — working with more professionals in different areas to unlock more of my ability.

"And I think when you saw that, I had that run of great results, which is ultimately what got me the championship in the end."