Lando Norris now able to withstand pressure at McLaren

McLaren

Norris now able to withstand pressure at McLaren

Norris enters his third season with McLaren partnering new team-mate Daniel Ricciardo

Ian Parkes & Ewan Gale

Saturday 13 February 2021 11:00

McLaren driver Lando Norris believes the pressure he faces to perform at the highest level in Formula 1 is now easier to cope with than when he started as a rookie.

Norris, who has 38 grands prix under his belt, enters his third F1 season this year with a McLaren team he helped to finish in the constructors' championship last term.

Now that the 21-year-old is established in the sport, the British driver feels he has evolved over time which is allowing him to better understand and deflect the constant pressures involved in driving in motorsport's top tier.

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"In my first year, it wasn't as if I didn't have any pressure," explained Norris in an interview at the end of last season that included GPFans Global.

"I am in Formula 1 and there is pressure no matter what position you are in. Every position for a driver, there is pressure.

"So I guess I had the pressure of being a rookie and the expectations of people like 'Can you do the job in Formula 1?

"Then there was a different pressure coming into the second season which was 'Right, we know you can do a good job, now there is the pressure to do that every single weekend and still make improvements even further'.

"I guess it is a different pressure but I feel I am able to withstand it much easier than the pressure of being a rookie in Formula 1 so I am a lot more confident."

Norris has rarely put a foot wrong since the beginning of the 2019 season but added that the only time he takes notice of the pressure is when he has made an error.

"Of course, sometimes you think of it when you have a bad day," added Norris, who went up against Carlos Sainz during his first two seasons with McLaren.

"I just think it is probably not going to be the best look for me when I have made a mistake and I am two tenths [of a second] down on my team-mate or something. It just doesn't look good on you or any driver.

"But at the same time, I was able to come back the next weekend and beat him or do a good job.

"There are different types of pressure and the pressure I had last year of having to deliver what people know I can deliver is a lot easier to withstand and use in some ways than the pressure of being a rookie and not knowing how to achieve things."