1 week Ago
Despite his speed, Norris has battled perceptions of fragility, and in Bahrain, teammate Oscar Piastri closed to within three points of him with a composed performance. McLaren boss Andrea Stella told Sky Deutschland it was a "sloppy" weekend for the Briton. "An incredible performance from Oscar and also from Lando, who was a bit sloppy, otherwise it could have been a one-two finish," the Italian said.
Norris was typically harsh on himself. "To be honest, I'm surprised I'm achieving anything in terms of results at the moment, given my current feelings behind the wheel of the car," he told Viaplay. "It's just not working, it's not clicking, and I don't have the answers.
" Beyond Piastri's comparative ease with the dominant 2025 McLaren, Norris compounded performance issues with unforced errors—misplacing his car on the grid and faltering on track. In the Bahrain 'cool down' room, he called himself a "muppet" when watching a replay. Some view such outbursts as signs of mental weakness.
"I do think Piastri is mentally stronger, even if Norris is faster on one lap," Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko recently remarked. When pressed on the controversy, he doubled down to Osterreich newspaper: "But we know that—it's nothing new." Ex-F1 driver Christijan Albers criticised Norris' candour with the press.
"You still have to stand there and give a confident interview," he told Viaplay. "You can see from his attitude that he is not as mentally strong as the others. That's really striking to me.
" Fellow former racer Giedo van der Garde concurred: "You can always say 'Listen, I made a mistake and wasn't completely on top of things today'. But you can tell that there is no confidence left in himself sometimes." Another ex-driver, Ralf Schumacher , urged Norris' entourage to intervene before the next race.
"This must not happen to a future world champion," he said of Norris' erratic Bahrain weekend. "If I was his manager or team boss, I'd take his phone away and put him in a hotel and tell him to exercise. He shouldn't listen to any of us or read all the articles coming out.
It hurts him, it haunts him. Everyone is talking about his weaknesses. Then he should come to the next race in a completely neutral way.
That would help him and that's what I would do.".
