F1
Lando Norris: "I can be world champion and still be a nice guy"
© Eric Alonso / DPPI
Three Grand Prix have passed in this 2025 season at the end of each of them, it is Lando Norris who was leading the Drivers' Championship. A new status for the Briton who dominates the Drivers' standings for the first time in his career in F1. After having jostled Max Verstappen his last two years, the pilot McLaren finally seems able to play for the title until the end, with a very well-bred MCL39. Winner in Australia at the opening of the championship, the Bristol native finally seems to be taking the measure of his new rank and now assumes his role as favorite for the world title in 2025.
Nevertheless, Lando Norris wants to play for the title his way. Indeed, the Englishman prefers to stay true to his values and not make waves on the track in his quest to win the world crown. And he doesn't care about the criticisms of his lack of aggression on the track. "I feel like there's a very prescribed version of how people say a world champion should be: overly aggressive. I want to win the championship but I'd rather be a good person and try to do well, said Lando Norris in an interview with The Guardian before the Japanese Grand Prix. I'll do whatever I can to win a championship, but maybe I won't sacrifice my life as much as some people do, in terms of personal values. I won't have the mentality of telling others, 'Fuck off,' which people say you have to have. I still believe I can become a world champion and still be a nice guy."
"There are certain things I wouldn't do that other champions have done."
Last year, many players and spectators criticized Lando Norris's relative passivity in the face of Max Verstappen's attacks, both on and off the track. When the Dutchman didn't hesitate to use his elbows to defend his position and score points, playing with the limits (and sometimes exceeding them), the Briton lacked a response. More "fragile" mentally, guilty of some critical errors, the McLaren driver finally cracked and was unable to fight for the championship until the end. Doubts then began to be raised about his mental and sporting strength to face the four-time world champion. “What people want you to believe is that you have to think you’re the best in the world, that you can beat everyone. That’s a great attitude to have, but I don’t think it’s the only attitude to have if you want to be a champion,” replies Lando Norris.
"I just want to enjoy my life. That's the kind of attitude that maybe doesn't qualify as a 'killer instinct'. I don't think you have to have that to be a world champion, specifies the current leader of the championshipI want to prove that you can be world champion without having it, but I don't want to let myself be pushed around, and I don't want people to think that I'm giving up on things because I'm too nice. I'll keep fighting, taking risks, and doing everything I know I can to become world champion, but without losing the freedom of who I am."
For Lando Norris, it doesn't matter who he faces in 2025, whether it's Max Verstappen or his own teammate. Oscar piastri – who seem to be his two main rivals this season – the five-time Grand Prix winner does not intend to change his driving style or his way of behaving just to go for a world title. "I don't need to show everyone that I have this kind of attitude, assures the British. I feel like people try to put themselves out there and show other people that they have that attitude. I can easily pretend I have a killer instinct and act like a little jerk, which might give people that impression. But there are certain things I wouldn't do that other champions have done. I don't have the same killer instinct as most drivers or champions, because I wasn't raised that way.
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Dorian Grangier
A young journalist nostalgic for the motorsport of yesteryear. Raised on the exploits of Sébastien Loeb and Fernando Alonso.
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Yves-Henri RANDIER
07/04/2025 at 09:38 a.m.
Norris wants to stay true to his values and insists that you don't need a "killer instinct" to become a world champion. This is honorable behavior, clearly linked to his very British upbringing, but on the other side of the garage, there is a cold-blooded animal with a killer instinct typical of Australians who don't like POMs. (POM = Prisoner Of His Majesty, a nickname used by South Africans, Aussies, and Kiwis to refer to a Briton)
DANIEL MEYERS
07/04/2025 at 07:07 a.m.
With this way of being, this character, (this lack of?) very respectable if ever there was one, in relation to Max and Piastri (among others) he will get 'eaten' alive, and he will only watch the title pass under his nose, shame. F1 is not, everyone is beautiful everyone is nice!
Lucas Paul
07/04/2025 at 04:42 a.m.
I agree with you Vincent, BUT Lando MUST be aggressive, facing an uninhibited Max! And if he doesn't succeed, Oscar will get ahead of him!
vincent moyet
07/04/2025 at 04:32 a.m.
"I wasn't raised that way" is an obvious response to Verstappen's dig, which was aimed at him (more than raised), without faith or law, with the motto "the end justifies the means," as he demonstrated last year. One thing is certain, Norris would not be in F1, nor in the most powerful car, nor leading the championship, if he did not have the qualities required for this. Go Lando.