MONACO — Despite his early season struggles, Lando Norris says he has never been as confident in his ability as he is right now.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with ESPN ahead of this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix, the McLaren driver talked about a variety of topics from his mental approach to the title fight to his time living in the principality.
Norris is currently 12 points behind teammate Oscar Piastri in the drivers’ standings and just nine ahead of Red Bull‘s Max Verstappen.
His struggle to maximise his performances in qualifying has led to just one pole position and race win at the season opener in Australia, while Piastri has secured three poles and four wins.
Despite the contrast in the two teammate’s win counts, Norris insists his self-belief has never been higher.
“I think at the end of the day, now more than ever even, though I still might be disappointed or not satisfied with things, I think deep down I’ve never had more confidence in myself, more confidence in my own ability, more confidence that I can go out and win than I ever have before,” he said.
“And that’s even with some of my performances that I’ve had, with some of the struggles in different areas. But I still feel better than I ever have. It’s just some of my performances have not been the best I’ve ever had.”
Norris’ openness about his qualifying struggles have led to questions about his approach to the title fight, but the McLaren driver made no apologies for striving to find improvements in himself and the car.
“I’m not satisfied unless I do the job that I think I can do, which is to win,” he added. “And therefore I’ll be tougher on myself, I’ll be tougher on the team when it’s necessary, because I think that’s how we improve.
“And we know that as a team, and that’s all that matters. Because if we can work on each other, and the team helps me and I help them, then that’s all I really care about.
“I don’t care what other people’s perception is or thoughts are about those moments. I know what’s best for me and what’s best for the team, and we help one another to get the most out of each other.”
Read the full interview.
Source: espn.com