Lando Norris rejects Max Verstappen 'fuck you' attitude: 'I don't need to be a dickhead'

Lando Norris insists he does not "need to be a dickhead" to beat Oscar Piastri to a first F1 drivers' championship this season.

The McLaren driver trails his team-mate by 34 points after a chassis issue on his MCL39 forced him into a costly retirement from second place in the Dutch Grand Prix.

Without his misfortune, the Australian would only have stretched his advantage from nine points to 16 at Zandvoort, in a race that never looked in doubt for the 24-year-old.

Whilst that has dealt Norris a hammer blow to his title aspirations, prior to the race, he explained to David Coulthard in an interview with Viaplay that he does not believe he must conform to the status quo to triumph in F1.

"Everyone is different, and it's not like my way is definitely right," the nine-time grand prix winner said. "I admire characteristics and mentalities of other drivers such as Max [Verstappen], where it really is that kind of 'f*** you' attitude.

"Sometimes I'm like, 'I wish I was more like that', I really do, but it's just the difference of people, and Max probably contrasts with me the most in some ways."

The British driver has remained open and honest with the press despite becoming a championship contender over the past year or so.

But it is something that has often been used against him, with the 25-year-old often labelled mentally weak, with it roundly perceived to hand his rivals an advantage.

However, Norris maintains it is not necessarily to his detriment, even if it is a departure from the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Verstappen, and greats from yesteryear.

"And some days I know what I have, it can be weaker and it can be taken advantage of – but only if I really give in to you or media or anyone questioning a lot and saying it is a weakness because Lewis wasn't like that, Max, a four-time world champion, is not like that; these guys weren't like that, [Ayrton] Senna, [Alain] Prost, whoever you want to say," he added.

Although he now finds himself in a considerable hole to climb out of over the final nine rounds of the campaign, Norris is adamant that if he does beat Piastri to the title, he will be "most proud" of channelling his inner Frank Sinatra and having done things his way.

"But I guess what I'll be most proud of is if I can do it, and just do it my way," he said. "I can set – not a new standard, but a new way of, 'you don't need to be a dickhead, you don't need to have that kind of attitude'.

"I want to do it my way."