After taking back-to-back victories at the Dutch Grand Prix and in Hungary, Lando Norris gave the media a rare self-praise of his level this season.
Norris took his maiden World Championship last season, and yet he faced a lot of criticism for it. It wasn’t a dominant title. He fought with Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen to the final rounds, and at times it felt as though it was slipping away from the Brit.
However, in the second half of the 2025 season, his performance picked up, and the mistakes or struggles he’d had in the first half faded; instead, it was Piastri who was struggling. Norris eventually claimed the title, but he was critical of himself throughout the journey.
McLaren’s 2026 campaign has taken a different turn. At the start of the season, the Woking-based team struggled immensely, failing to start and finish many of the opening races. However, with the overhaul of regulations, the emphasis has been on upgrades and development. Something McLaren have been bringing thick and fast.
A change in pace for Norris at Dutch GP
After back-to-back DNFs in Canada and Monaco, it’s been an upward trend for Norris. With a podium in Barcelona and a sprint podium in Silverstone and Zandvoort. Now two wins on the trot from Hungary to Zandvoort.
The McLaren switch-up left the current championship leader, Kimi Antonelli, claiming that the Woking outfit now has the fastest car. Forgoing the dominance Mercedes have held for the opening half of the season.
Speaking to media including Motorsport Week, Norris vehemently disagreed with this sentiment.
“They’re not going to say it themselves if they just got beaten today.” He said. “So I don’t think it’s true. I think if I didn’t get Kimi when I overtook him, I don’t think I would have won the race today.”
Norris tried to evaluate what made the difference on track in Zandvoort and ultimately, tentatively, admitted he believed it was himself.
“You know, it’s hard to say, but I also know how good a job I’m doing behind the wheel. And of course, I never want to overtalk about myself. I’m always the complete opposite.
“But for once, I would give myself a little bit of credit that I feel like I’m doing a better job than everyone. And I think that can also make a difference.”
Norris is commonly critical of himself and his performance, consistently uttering that he believed he wasn’t good enough at times last year. The admission this time around highlights a self-confidence that is translating to on-track performance.
The reigning world champion also recognised that while he believed Mercedes still had the edge, they were definitely beatable, a key difference from earlier in the year.
“We certainly have a car now capable of beating them. Even like we looked at yesterday in qualifying, but we didn’t win yesterday. And we didn’t really change much. But I worked a lot on my driving.
“I want to believe more than everyone else again. And we turned things around today. So we certainly have a very similar car, I would say, in both Mercedes. But I think they have a better all-round performing car than what we do.”
Clear weaknesses of MCL40
Norris spoke a lot to the media about the MCL40’s weaknesses, which the team has identified as being the slow corners.
“We are more specifically focused on high speed.” He said. “Turns 7 and 8 were just our biggest two corners where we gained that time today.
“If I make one mistake in qualifying yesterday in P3, P4, P5, I’m not going to win. And then no one’s going to be saying these things.
“So the fact that I’m just doing a good job is, I think, why people are saying it.”
The results pushed Norris to fourth in the championship standings, jumping Charles Leclerc by just four points. However, he still sits 83 points away from Antonelli out front.
There are still plenty of points on offer and more than enough opportunity for most of the field to close that gap, and if McLaren and Norris continue on their current trajectory, there’s no reason he shouldn’t find himself more solidly in the championship fight down the line.
READ MORE – Lando Norris details Dutch GP pole with ‘big balls’ joke
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