McLaren driver is determined to succeed as a nice guy in F1 but don’t mistake his kindness for a lack of fight
His credentials as a potential Formula One world champion have been questioned but Lando Norris is unperturbed. With an almost startling level of honesty, highly unusual in the sport, the British driver has considered conventional wisdom and its implications and rejected it. That he wants to win is in no doubt but he will not allow his sense of self to be subsumed at the altar of success at all costs.
“I feel like there is a very prescribed version of how people say a world champion needs to be – overly aggressive,” he says in his McLaren team’s hospitality on a chilly day in Suzuka before this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix. “I want to win a championship. I’d rather just be a good person and try to do well. I’ll do whatever I can to win a championship but maybe I won’t sacrifice in my life as much as some others, in terms of who I am as a person and have the ‘fuck you’ mentality people say you’ve got to have. I still believe I can be a world champion but doing it by being a nice guy.”
Written by Giles Richards at Suzuka
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/apr/04/lando-norris-you-dont-need-a-killer-instinct-to-be-world-champion under the title “Lando Norris: ‘You don’t have to have a killer instinct to be world champion’”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
