Lando Norris has admitted he doesn’t consistently feel “at the same level” across this year’s Formula 1 season compared to last year, despite reducing the title lead to just eight points.
The Brit arrives at this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix having reduced the deficit to team-mate Oscar Piastri in the title race, with wins in Austria and at Silverstone.
But Norris has not enjoyed plain sailing this year, having talked openly about struggles both psychologically and with the MCL39, a car which Piastri has often been more adept to.
The momentum has seemingly shifted towards Norris now, but when asked if he felt like he’d prefer to not have a two-week break amid his upwards trajectory, he joked to be glad of the rest.
“No, I needed two weeks off to be honest, to recover,” he quipped to media including Motorsport Week. “It was just nice to end that way. A week of recovering and enjoying some time away with my friends and a week of preparing for this weekend.
“In a similar way, it is quite short-lived. I feel like winning in Silverstone has nothing to do with tomorrow.
“I feel like we go out tomorrow and it doesn’t matter if we won the last five or ten races. In a way, no one cares about that.
“We can be the best tomorrow and perform the best over the next three days. It was great but I had to focus on this weekend.”
![Lando Norris has rediscovered his best, taking victories in Austria and at Silverstone [pictured]](https://www.motorsportweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Lando-Norris-Silverstone-2025-1024x576.webp)
MCL39 knowledge improving, but Norris ‘still not to the level’ he craves
Norris was also asked about how he might pose more of a threat to Piastri since his improvement in form, and how he feels he can find a way to to regain 2024 form.
“With the car, with the knowledge of where I can push, how I can push and all those things, it’s always been a good track [Austria] for me.
“So I think a selection of things came together and the pace I had then in qualifying was quite easily and most convincingly the best I’ve had all season.
“And just in my laps consistently were always up there in P1. So yeah, I think there were some positive things that came from that.
“I was still trying to work on things to give me more from the car in order to allow me to unlock that more often like I was doing last season.
“[But] there are certain things that I’ve just had to work on and be better at, and I feel like I have. And I think that’s been a nice thing is that I had the two wins.”
Norris explained his Austria and Silverstone wins came about through being able to find speed in the car from early in the weekend.
“The most positive thing from those two weekends was just that the pace was better from the off and I was more comfortable with the car and in understanding how to get the most pace from it,” he said.
“At times that brings more of a smile to my face than just winning the race itself because it’s progress, it’s seen progress and that’s always a very good thing, it’s a very rewarding thing. But I still know that there’s still more I need to get, there’s still more things.
“I mean I feel better than what I did so do I feel more confident that I can have more performances like that? Yes.
“Do I feel as good as I still felt last season and that I’m performing at the same level consistently enough? I would still say no.
“I have more understanding of everything now but it’s still, we’re talking minute things like small, incredibly small gains here and there. I mean I feel more of a threat now, yes, but am I happy enough still with where I’m at, where the car is and my harmony with the car? It’s still not to the level that I want.”
Adapating to different machinery the key to unlocking potential
After his Silverstone triumph, Norris poured cold water on the idea that the new front suspension design is a big factor in his newfound form, theorising that hard work on his part is also helpful to the cause.
When asked if there are any particular aspects that he is working on, Norris quipped: “My driving.
“How I drive the car, my ability to adapt to more driving styles,” he added. “That’s really the main thing. It’s also my job at the end of the day to drive whatever car I get given as quickly as possible.
“Also, some more things away from the track with my team. I have a very good group of people around me. So working on things on the track and off the track.
“How I can approach the weekends in a better way. Most of it is how I can work on being a better driver in the situation of struggling with things that I don’t like or I’m not used to or changes on the car for this year.”
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