Lando Norris says he must calm down his approach to qualifying to avoid compromising his race weekends.
The McLaren driver climbed six places to finish fourth in today’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after crashing heavily in Q3 yesterday. Norris was pleased with his performance in the race but admitted he left himself with too much to do on Sunday after another poor Saturday.“I’ve been very confident in my races,” he told the official F1 channel. “It’s my quali, it’s my Saturdays which are not good enough at the minute. My one-lap pace.
“That’s because, like I’ve said before, I’m struggling a little bit with the car.”
Norris was consistently quick through practice and qualifying until Q3 yesterday, when he crashed on his first timed run.
“Yesterday was not the car, that was just me trying to take too many risks,” he said. “So I’ve just got to get it back.
“Clearly I’ve got the pace and it’s all in there. Sometimes I try and ask for a bit too much and sometimes I get a bit too eager for a little bit more and want to put the most perfect lap together and I just need to chill out a little. A little break would be nice and I’ll come back even stronger.”
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While his team mate Oscar Piastri won ahead of Max Verstappen, Norris finished just one second behind Charles Leclerc in third place. He doesn’t believe he could have done any better.
“I think it was the best we could achieve today,” said Norris. “Clearly, we’re not head and shoulders above the rest.
“As Oscar showed, it was not an easy race. Max probably would have won if he didn’t have the penalty, we’ve got these kinds of issues, still. It’s not easy races which just means when I make mistakes, like yesterday, like in some other races, because I’m just not getting it [right] as much as I need to, then I make my life pretty tough.
“I’m still happy with my comeback today, it’s the best I could achieve and now I’m looking forward to our break.”
Norris said his race to fourth had been “flat out” from the start. “There’s no saving on the tyres here, it’s flat-out from start to finish.
“So I was struggling, not in terms of physically, but just struggling to have enough of an advantage over the rest to come back through as much as I wanted.”
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2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
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Mooa42
21st April 2025, 5:10
Please don’t back off and calm down, there is plenty of other drivers who do that!
I prefer the “balls out” approach that usually nets good results, sometimes it ends badly, but in order to have good days you need to have bad days. Chalk it up as a bad day and move on.
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
21st April 2025, 12:06
Yep 100%. Driving at ten tenths and occasionally getting away with 11 is what its all about. The difference between the great and the good is how close to their maximum they dare to go. Drivers like Tsunoda can do it, till it matters unlike Lando who usually does it when it does matter. Bad day, move on, its a long season
Armchair Expert (@armchairexpert)
21st April 2025, 5:39
Norris underperformance watch (will keep it updated throughout the year):
-China sprint – P6 instead of P1 in sprint quali, P8 instead of P1 in sprint, 7 points lost, +1 point for Max
-China race – P3 instead of P1 in quali, P2 instead of P1 in race, 7 points lost
-Japan race – P2 instead of P1 in quali, P2 instead of P1 in race, 7 points lost, +7 points for Max
-Bahrain race – P6 instead of P1 in quali, P3 instead of P1 in race, 10 points lost
-Saudi Arabia race – P10 and crash instead of P1 in quali, P4 instead of P1 in race, 13 points lost, +6 points for Max
Overall: 44 points lost (9 points per weekend), 14 points handed to Max
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
21st April 2025, 10:48
You need to do something Lando but I’m not sure what.
Yoga Meditation?
Join the Scientologists?
Become a secret drinker perhaps.
Seriously dude, everyone knows you have it in you to win but your biggest opponent seems to be yourself.
I for one have confidence in you and am glad you’re in the game.
Just get a grip … please ;P
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
21st April 2025, 12:08
Too any armchair psychologists. The only answer is on the stop watch.
David BR (@david-br)
21st April 2025, 12:10
@nullapax Learning the art of not saying anything would help.
Adam (@rocketpanda)
21st April 2025, 11:31
Most of the interviews I read of Norris is him downplaying McLaren’s car advantage and insisting it’s not there. Like I dunno dude, a McLaren hasn’t been off the podium since the first race and one or both have been challenging for pole and win at each event so far… like that feels like a pretty strong advantage. If you ain’t getting it done your team-mate clearly is so the issue ain’t the car…
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
21st April 2025, 20:22
he doesn’t have the same advantage Max has had. He’s not the sole #1 on that team. his setup is not the first priority for that team.
Also, the people that own that team don’t want a clear #1, they want 2 drivers so they can play up narratives and keep people watching F1. So fully expect Lando to get the shaft the first half of the season. It’s just standard F1 business to split the season in to two pieces, the fall and the chance, the sure thing, and the could be.
Even the way the media paints the characters of Lando and his teammate, it’s clear how they are trying to position narratives.
Also Max doesn’t have a bad car, he has a pretty good car, and the lion share of the attention on that team. If Lando had what Max had @ RBR, he would already be 25 points ahead in the championship.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
21st April 2025, 20:19
someone needs to coach him on the fact that the feeling of entitlement or expectations is not a good thing. Instead he should just be at one with his car and exact the most amount of harmony he can achieve w/ the track/conditions/mech. Also don’t listen to the media. bunch of piranhas. Let them feed on their own selves.