Lando Norris F1 News: McLaren star delivers health announcement with important message

Lando Norris

Norris delivers health announcement with important message

McLaren F1 star opens up with mental health statement

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Saturday 12 October 2024 13:57 Updated: 21:53

McLaren Formula 1 star Lando Norris has released a statement regarding an important topic within the sport.

The 24-year-old British star is currently taking time to recuperate before the 2024 season concludes with a pair of triple headers, starting with the US GP in Austin next weekend.

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Norris will surely be taking the autumn break as an opportunity to rest and come back stronger next weekend, given that the 2024 constructors' championship is within touching distance for his papaya team.

McLaren knocked Red Bull off the top spot following the Azerbaijan Grand Prix when Norris' team-mate Oscar Piastri secured his second career win.

The rivalry between the two young stars has caused quite a headache for Andrea Stella's outfit, with the team principal having to declare his driver priorities after facing criticism for how McLaren handled their inner team tensions on the track.

Lando Norris will be looking to keep team-mate Oscar Piastri behind him at the remaining six races

Lando Norris is chasing Max Verstappen for the drivers' championship

What was Norris' health announcement?

With just 52 points between Norris and reigning world champion Max Verstappen, the British driver will no doubt be under a lot of pressure to bring home the double for McLaren for the first time since 1998.

With this week marking World Mental Health Day, Norris took to Instagram to share a message of love and support, whilst appearing to reflect on his own experiences.

Mental health, often a taboo in sport, has been the topic of conversation in F1 especially over the autumn break following fellow countryman Lewis Hamilton's groundbreaking interview with The Sunday Times, in which he revealed his own lengthy battle with depression.

Lewis Hamilton recently opened up on his own mental health struggles

Hamilton, always a trailblazer in F1, led the way to discuss his own mental health, with Norris, always his own harshest critic, seeming to follow.

"Special day today... it’s World Mental Health Day so I wanted to send you a very quick message to say hope everyone is doing well and if you’re not, there’s no reason you shouldn't be, I’m sure everyone has reasons around the world for struggles and difficulties and things like that, no matter what position they’re in and of course some are harder, some are easier than others, but I just wanted to send you all my love and wish everyone the very best.

"It may not always seem like you can or seem like the easiest thing to do but there’s always people around who I’m sure are happy to listen and talk and trust me, the second you talk and have a conversation you’ll feel better, but it’s just crossing that line of doing it in the first place.

"I’m sure it’s tough but World Mental Health Day is an important day for everyone around the world and I just wanted to play a very small part in it in sending everyone a very quick message.

"Love you all, be there for your friends and your family and check in on them and do all of that stuff and I’m sure they’ll be very grateful if you do."

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A post shared by Lando Norris (@landonorris)

Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.

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Max Verstappen McLaren FIA Lando Norris Azerbaijan Grand Prix US GP