‘Self-critical’ Norris needs to stop apologising – Steiner
Ex-Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner believes Lando Norris must stop apologising for his on-track shortcomings.
Norris has often taken aim at his own on-track mistakes, particularly towards the back end of the 2023 season and the run-up to the current F1 summer break.
McLaren has improved itself into a consistent front-running position and has brought itself into championship contention and currently sits just 42 points down on standings leaders Red Bull.
The Woking-based squad has employed a youthful line-up with the talents nurtured by the team. In 2019, it brought Norris in as a rookie before introducing Piastri to a full-time seat in 2023.
The pairing is seen now as one of the strongest on the grid, with both drivers emerging victorious this year – leaving Steiner to praise McLaren’s long-term commitment to its line-up.
“I think that what they did with the drivers was very smart,” Steiner exclusively told RacingNews365.
“They picked up drivers very young – normally, when you pick up a rookie, it goes wrong, the chances are high because you don’t know how they will perform.
“But they got them both right and [they’re] very good. As characters, they are completely different.”
Steiner issues Norris F1 advice
However, Steiner suggested Norris has been too harsh on himself and has called on the Briton to not get hung up on mistakes.
“I think Lando shouldn’t be as self-critical as he is, because I don’t think it helps him,” he said.
“You have to be critical, but you don’t have to apologise. We all make mistakes, just move on and keep on going.”
Steiner emitted praise for Piastri, who is contesting just his second full-time season in F1 under the guidance of F1 veteran Mark Webber.
“With Oscar, I’m not surprised that he is who he is. [He is] introverted almost, he doesn’t say a lot. He’s very calm always, I think he is a very good guy.
“But also if you look at who he’s surrounded by – Mark Webber. Mark went through the same stuff when he was a young guy coming from Australia, coming to Europe and fighting all these battles, working with Flavio [Briatore].
“He’s now giving all of his experience to Oscar and takes all that BS away from him – ‘You focus on the racing, I’ll sort the rest out’.
“I think how they set up is very good. And I always say your surroundings are very important to do the job, that everybody around you believes in you and are not there for them, but for you.
“Hopefully Lando gets there to get a little bit more ‘Okay, I made a mistake. Next time, I’m not going to do it anymore’.
“But there’s no need to apologise all the time, because the only one you damage is yourself. Obviously the team, it damages as well, but he will come out of it because he’s very talented.”
