McLaren weighing up Lando Norris change amid F1 criticism

Lando Norris in Singapore — Photo: © LAT Images

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McLaren weighing up Norris change amid F1 criticism

McLaren are looking for new ways to support Lando Norris

Cal Gaunt

Thursday 7 December 2023 19:57

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McLaren are trying to come up with new ways to better support Lando Norris, who was repeatedly very hard on himself after mistakes or poor performances in 2023.

Speaking after the season had concluded, Norris lamented the subpar performances he felt he had delivered in qualifying - particularly his failure to challenge Red Bull's Max Verstappen for pole in Abu Dhabi, as well as missed opportunities at the United States and Mexican grands prix.

The British fan-favourite can often be heard over team radio and in interviews being extremely self-critical, and now McLaren are exploring strategies that might help Norris' mindset.

Lando Norris is often quick to criticise himself after poor performances

Lando Norris was particularly unhappy after Abu Dhabi

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella is strategizing about how best to support Lando Norris

Stella: Lando needs people around him

One such strategy touted by McLaren team principal Andrea Stella is the potential implementation of an 'entourage' model, akin to the support structures provided to tennis players.

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“It's about how you judge situations, it's about how you talk about situations, about how you interpret yourself," Stella told Motorsport.com. "This one certainly deserves some attention.

“How can we just sometimes accept that a 99.9% lap is good enough? What are you up against? Always the 100% or consistency?

“When you look into opportunities with drivers, with the athletes at this level, you do it as a group. You do it 360 degrees around the driver.

“You can see in tennis, these players, they have an entourage around them, which is to support this incredible performance to actually deliver to the best of their potential.”

Max Verstappen McLaren Lando Norris Andrea Stella