Norris highlights perks of public exposure as F1 driver

Lando Norris has admitted there are benefits to the media exposure that Formula 1 drivers have received in recent years.

The sport's popularity has rocketed ever since Netflix launched its Drive to Survive docuseries in 2019.

Some drivers have criticised the programme in the past while it has been noted that the show dramatises scenarios for entertainment purposes.

Norris has recognised that the show is designed primarily to entertain people rather than provide a recount of the previous season.

“I watched, I think, the first episode I was ever in, which was end of Season 1 and that was it,” Norris told media including RacingNews365.com.

“That was all I saw. The thing is, when you know everything that goes on, it's nice when they make you look good but then sometimes they also make you look bad.

“It's like the real truth at the end of the day. It's still a show, it's to entertain people. It's not there to provide maybe the most honest things about everything.

“I know, it's for the business, right? It's a business, Formula 1, it's an entertainment.”

Benefits to popularity

But with more exposure to the media, the sport has become more engaging for fans and has allowed the business side to thrive.

“As much as I don't do it for entertainment, if it didn't get televised and all of those things, it wouldn't really matter [to me],” Norris said.

“I just want to do the driving, and that's why I'm here. I'm not here to do all the interviews and enjoy all of this stuff.

“I love Formula 1 because I love to drive and compete against these guys and race and do all of that stuff.

“And even since I've started, the media has risen a lot more, but in the business world, it probably makes sense because there's more money and all of those things, and that's normally how it works.

“But as drivers, it's not the thing that we enjoy too much of, but some perks of it.”