Lando Norris pulls back the curtain on the negatives of his overtly self-critical nature

Lando Norris has opened up on how his overtly self-critical nature has its negatives as well, as things could certainly spiral. When it comes to some of the elite talents in F1, Norris is a bit of an outlier in the manner in which the driver tends to internalize the shortcomings of a result.

In the history of the sport, we've seen quite a few drivers who tend not to be as overtly self-critical in the media. If there's a mistake they've made in the race or a result that has not been optimal, drivers tend not to put the entire blame on themselves. Lando Norris is a bit of an outlier when it comes to something like this.

The driver is notorious for his overtly self-critical nature, where every mistake, be it small or big, tends to get overly analyzed by the driver publicly in front of the media. While there have been a few who have praised the driver's blunt and honest demeanor, quite a few have also questioned the way Lando Norris approaches things, as such a level of self-criticism is not healthy.

In conversation with F1.com, the McLaren driver admitted that while there are positives to his approach, there are negatives as well, as he can end up backing himself into a very dark corner. He said,

“I’ve always been very hard on myself, because I’ve never been hard on anyone else… I’ve never been hard on my team, my mechanics, the car, or the setup. I’ve always worked on myself more than I’ve ever blamed anyone, let’s say, and that’s just made me into the person that I am."

He added,

“I think there are pros and cons of that kind of mentality… A lot of it has been good, because it makes me work on myself, and I think I’m very good at understanding myself and figuring out why this was good and that wasn’t good, but there’s the negative side of sometimes being too negative on yourself, and kind of getting into that bad little world."

Lando Norris on learning to make the best of his self critical nature

Talking about his nature, Lando Norris said that he's learned to make the most of his trait. The driver admits that he knows there would be times when he would be unable to do as good a job as he should or make mistakes over a race weekend as well. However, it's all about being at peace with himself and trying to do the best job that he can. He said,

“I’ve learned to utilise it in a good way, and especially over the last half a year, year, I’ve tried to optimise it and use it in terms of making me better – rather than use it, acknowledge it and let it affect me in a negative way. It’s more how can you turn it into something positive? That’s something I’ve not been good at until the last year or so."

He added,

“In both aspects of my life – F1 life and also at home – I feel like I’m in the best position that I’ve been. I know that I’m going to make mistakes, and I’m going to let myself down, but I’m excited and confident that I can go out and do a good job every weekend.”

Lando Norris is currently involved in a title battle with Oscar Piastri. The British driver has lost the lead to his McLaren teammate and would be hoping to bounce back in Miami.