Lando Norris has expressed “regret” over his previous ambition to operate at “101 per cent” in Formula 1, conceding that it contributed to his earlier mistakes in 2025.
Norris goes into this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix aiming to reduce the 16-point lead that Oscar Piastri holds in the championship fight between the McLaren duo.
The Briton has trailed Piastri since his team-mate bagged three successive victories between Bahrain and Miami, a run which saw Norris rue several on-track slip-ups.
Potential opportunities to win also went amiss in Saudi Arabia, Imola and Canada with blunders over a single lap that resigned Norris to lining up lower down the grid.
Norris has been candid since the campaign began about his struggle to drive the MCL39 on the limit due to the car’s less responsive front end versus its predecessor.
But while pole positions in Austria and Belgium coincided with him adopting McLaren’s revised suspension, Norris stressed his upturn is also down to personal gains.
Norris has now divulged that his past errors have led him to rein in his approach in order to avoid a wild variation in performance, even at a cost to his ultimate ceiling.
“Sometimes this year, even 95 per cent would have been fine,” Norris told media including Motorsport Week.
“These are some of my mistakes from earlier on in the season. I tried before at 101 per cent. Sometimes that’s amazing. Sometimes that’s, I think, as good as you can get.
“That’s what I feel is the optimum of what I, and I think a driver can achieve at times. I do believe that.
“But also at times I should drive at 95 per cent or even 90 per cent and that’s not enough to be on pole or P2 sometimes.
“I mean, I do regret trying to be so good at the beginning part of the season. And I think now already, I sometimes settle for a 95 per cent lap and that’s still good enough.”
Where McLaren title battle will be won and lost
With the pair well-matched in a dominant McLaren machine, Norris has recognised how imperative it will be to guarantee that he emerges ahead on each opening lap.
“Not necessarily who is outright the quickest or who can simply race better or make the best overtakes,” he explained.
“I think it’s just, yeah, I have some of my strengths, he has some of his.
“And more down to the business stage, especially because of the position we’re in as a team.
“I think we have a car that is, you can say one of the best cars made in Formula 1, that we’re first or second more often than not.
“Therefore, it’s just more out of us, between us, more than who qualifies first and sixth or first.
“It’s just who qualifies first and second more often. And you kind of get… you just hold on in Turn 1 and then go from there.
“There’s not been many races where positions have swapped through a race.”
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