Lando Norris bashes 'complete BS' and 'completely fake stories' about McLaren in the media

Lando Norris has said that he is not paying attention to rumors of a potential move away from McLaren and criticized the media for fabricating "complete BS" stories. This comes after recent reports suggested the 23-year-old was looking to leave the iconic British team due to their struggles in recent seasons.

McLaren finished third in the constructor's standings in the 2020 season and were expected to continue their push higher up the grid. However, the Woking-based team finished fourth and fifth in the 2021 and 2022 seasons respectively.

Norris is under contract with McLaren until the end of the 2025 season and is hoping to fight for race wins and championships with the team. In a press conference ahead of the Saudi Arabian GP, he did not hold back in his criticism of the media for the "fake stories" about his future with McLaren.

Speaking to the media, including Sportskeeda, he said:

"Yeah, I guess I'm at a point where it doesn't affect me in any way," Lando Norris said. "I'm, I guess, fine with it to an extent, apart from when it's just complete BS, that people try and come up with, and completely fake stories that people make up. I think, to a certain point, harsh criticism is acceptable. It makes sense: you don't like it when it's too much and people in the team start to get affected by it."

"Especially because maybe for some of them, they don't understand so much... or don't know so many of the truths, but I think we do a good job within the team, within McLaren explaining things to people, telling them what's going on, explaining my side of the story and things that go on with me, things that go on within teams."

He added:

"So yeah, it's tough, it's the world we live in. It's just media - maybe not you in particular - it's just what you've got to deal with sometimes. So, I'm fine with it, the team is fine with it."

---

"I believe we should have been in the top 10" - Lando Norris

Lando Norris rued not finishing in the top 10 positions in the 2023 season's opening race in Bahrain. Reliability issues with McLaren's MCL60 saw the Briton finish 17th at Sakhir, while teammate Oscar Piastri did not finish the race.

Speaking about the disappointing start to the season, Norris said:

"I would say so, I think for what we believe we should have achieved last weekend in Bahrain and absolutely. You know, I believe we should have been in the top 10, and scored some points in Bahrain, if we didn't have the issues. So our plan is to limit that, not have any issues and try again and make up for (what) we lost."

It would be interesting to see if the Jeddah track suits Lando Norris and McLaren more than Bahrain and aid them into getting points for the first time in 2023.