Norris ‘never had belief’ he would be in F1

Lando Norris has revealed he “never had the belief” he would reach F1, arguing against convention that great achievement is only possible with high levels of confidence and self-assuredness.

In an exclusive interview with RacingNews365, the McLaren driver says he “worked hard to be here, but I’ve not believed hard to be here”.

The 24-year-old graduated to F1 in 2019 having finished second to George Russell in his sole F2 campaign.

Since taking that step he has looked home in the so-called ‘pinnacle of motorsport’, scoring points on a consistent basis.

His maiden podium came in the first round of his second season and he finished the year just eight points shy of his more experienced team-mate, Carlos Sainz.

The one-time grand prix winner comfortably out-performed Daniel Ricciardo in two seasons alongside the Australian, and whilst Oscar Piastri is starting to push him hard, Norris is ahead in their 2024 head-to-head.

In having the measure over his current team-mate during the opening 14 rounds of the year, particularly in qualifying, he retains an – albeit slim – chance of taking the drivers’ title from Max Verstappen.

However, the Briton admits he is not naturally blessed with extreme self-belief, which is common-place in high-achieving athletes.

“For me, I never had the belief I’d be in Formula 1,” Norris says. 

“As much as all the superstars in the world are like: ‘You have to have so much belief in yourself to do this’, I don’t think you do at all, to be honest. I never did.

“And, I mean, I’ve only won one race, but I’m still here, in Formula 1. 

“It’s more just the work behind the scenes, I think matters more than anything else. I’ve worked hard to be here, but I’ve not believed hard to be here – that kind of thing.”

Oftentimes, Norris’ lack of self-belief goes one step further, towards the more nefarious and sinister arena of self-criticism – which is, on many occasion, seemingly undue.

The 24-year-old is openly hard on himself when speaking to media after has made a mistake or feels he could have done better, providing – at least what he feels is – an honest account of his performances.

This has led to assertions that he is too critical of himself, to a detrimental extent, and that this level of negativity opens the door for external criticism – something that, at times, takes the form of criticism of his own self-criticism.

However, to Norris, it is a case of calling it how he sees it, something he does not plan on changing.

“Really, I think it’s just trying to figure yourself out, know what works best for you and maximise that,” he contends.

“I feel like that’s what I’m doing. I’m still figuring it out along the way.

“And maybe a better balance [to how hard he is on himself] at times is correct, because I definitely don’t want it to have a longer-term effect, like one race shouldn’t affect five races.

“But I’m never going to come in and be pleased with under-delivering on my job. And I think that’s how I’ll always be.”