Norris acknowledges need for self-criticism ‘balance’

Lando Norris has admitted he may need to be more “balanced” over how critical he is of his own performances but insisted he will never be easy on himself.

The McLaren driver has often taken aim at himself after a qualifying session or race when an error has been made.

It has been questioned whether Norris being so self-critical will hinder future title chances, with ex-F1 team boss Guenther Steiner highlighting the need to take a more relaxed approach. 

Norris recognises that some small tweaks need to be made regarding how critical he is of himself, but knows who he can lean on for guidance and support. 

"I think I need to potentially be slightly better balanced with it," Norris told RacingNews365 in an exclusive interview. "I don't think it's right that I'm ever easy on myself.

"Maybe easier than what I am now, but never easy. And again, this is personal preference. I've always taken on board what people say, especially from people with knowledge.

"So the people's opinions I respect more are previous drivers or people in similar situations, Andrea [Stella], Zak [Brown], those kind of people who have knowledge of certain scenarios. 

"But I still know, again, what works best for me. It's as simple as that, it's just as much of just trying to figure yourself out, what works for you and what doesn't."

Norris' process

Norris takes no satisfaction from pretending to be pleased with a result he is disappointed with, regardless of the discussions it creates on TV and on social media. 

McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri is traditionally very calm and collected regardless of the result, whilst Norris gives the impression that he wears his heart more on his sleeve. 

For the 24-year-old, he has a process he follows for when a frustrating session is endured. That process, which he explained to RacingNews365, has always worked for him.

"I have absolutely no pleasure in being able to come out of a race and smile when I knew I didn't do well enough," added Norris. 

"Zero, it doesn't make me happy one bit. I know it gives the perception to TV and stuff, but I don't mind. I've also got to a point from that side of things, it doesn't really affect me.

"I'm not thinking, 'Oh, they're going to think of this on TV now, they're going to think of that on social media.'

"I care about it to a certain extent, but I also don't mind. I'm happy people have their own opinions and like me, don't like me and so forth.

"But whatever I think or know, that works best for me in order to be disappointed. Come in, go through all my shit, try and figure out what I did wrong, how I can do better, how I can improve? For me, it's always worked."