Lando Norris reveals SECRET to his key quality in F1

Lando Norris

Norris reveals SECRET to his key quality in F1

McLaren's British star explains what allows him to get great race starts

Tyler Foster

Saturday 19 August 2023 19:27

McLaren’s Lando Norris revealed that he tries to empty his mind during race starts, before focusing on 'hitting the correct clutch target' in order to achieve the best getaways.

Throughout his five years in Formula 1, Norris has developed his skills to become one of the quickest drivers off the line. This has been especially important, as the 23-year-old has spent most of his time in the series battling it out in the midfield, where places can be won and lost in an instant.

In such fine margins, Norris showed his prowess at Silverstone earlier this season. The British driver enjoyed a resurgent spell alongside team-mate Oscar Piastri, putting his MCL60 onto the front-row for just the third time in his career.

Article continues under video

At the race start, Norris performed a better getaway compared to his friend and two-time F1 champion Max Verstappen. This allowed the McLaren driver to lead the race for four laps before succumbing to the superior Red Bull behind.

In a video posted on McLaren’s X (formerly known as Twitter) account, Norris described the processes he goes through in preparation for a race start.

“As you’re waiting for the lights to go out, I would say there’s almost nothing going through my mind. Rarely is. I just focus on the one thing that I have to do next, which is putting my clutch into the correct position. Like that’s the only thing that you think of, I try to make sure I think of, when the lights are about to go out. The only focus is on getting a good start.”

Lights out w/ Lando! ?@LandoNorris talks us through what it's like pulling up to the an #F1 grid at the race start...#F1 pic.twitter.com/XqPlwEOWHZ
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) August 18, 2023

Norris: Emptying mind the key

Norris enjoyed a second place finish in front of his home crowd thanks to his excellent getaway

Reacting to the lights is just half of the equation when it comes to the perfect getaway. Norris has had plenty of practice at manoeuvring through traffic during his time at McLaren, and has learned the hard way the risks of getting it all wrong.

“As soon as you’ve done the start, you then focus on what’s next: bringing the car in the right position, turning, reacting to people and so on. But I tried to kind of empty my mind and just focus on the one thing, which is hitting the correct clutch target that I get given and forgetting about the rest.”