It is known that winning a Title in Formula 1 will remove the pressure off a driver who then starts performing, knowing he has done what he had set out to do.
Such an achievement will make a driver confident, which in turn allows him to deal with tough situations much better without questioning himself, and Norris’ situation in this case is not ideal, as his McLaren MCL40 is not far from the dominant car its predecessor was.
“I certainly want to believe that we can continue it. This is maybe as good as it can look for now, but I certainly believe we can still win races,” he added, optimistic of McLaren’s pace following the upgrade package they introduced in Hungary.
McLaren Team Principal, Andrea Stella, hailed Norris for the manner in which he dealt with the early challenges of his Title-winning campaign while touching on the Briton’s current form.
He said: “I’ve been quite impressed by Lando following the way he has reacted to the first one-third of the season last year…there were clear learning points, and he embraced the challenge. So I think what we see here is just the continuation of this trajectory.
“Lando is much more confident. I think he’s much more aware of his tools that he has in his driving. How to deploy those tools. And I think he’s also, let me say, more in control of his emotions.
“When he was behind Oscar [Piastri], he said a couple of times that he had pace in hand, but he didn’t get overly frustrated,” the Italian added, referring to Norris’ Hungarian Grand Prix radio chats. “And the fact that he wasn’t overly frustrated, I think, then allowed him to use the pace at the right time and led him to the victory.
“So I think we’ve seen a great trajectory of development for Lando, and this is honestly the same with Oscar,” Stella concluded. (Reporting by Agnes Carlier from Hungaroring)