Lando Norris reveals mental toll of F1 title race: “It takes a lot out of you”

Lando Norris has opened up on the mental demands of fighting for the F1 world title for the first time, admitting the intensity of the battle is taking its toll as he heads into the summer break.

Norris stormed to his fifth F1 victory of the year, beating Oscar Piastri at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The British driver capitalised on a risky one-stop strategy to gain track position over his teammate.

It paid dividends as Piastri could not overtake Norris in the closing laps.

The result means that Norris is now just nine points behind Piastri in this year’s battle for the drivers’ championship.

Due to Red Bull’s drop-off in form, it’s inevitable that McLaren will have their first F1 drivers’ champion since Lewis Hamilton in 2008.

Speaking in the post-race FIA press conference, Norris expects the battle with Piastri to only get tougher.

“I think it’s already tough, and it’s going to continue to be tough,” he said.

“It’s pretty small margins between us. I’m sure there’s some things I can do better on and improve on, and I’m sure he’llprobably say a similar thing. So, it’s going to be a good and tough battle probably till the end.

“It takes a lot out of you trying to focus so much for every single session, race, everything. So, it’s going be a long second half of the season, I’m sure, but at the same time, I’m looking forward to a nice break, a bit of time to rest. And, yeah, try and come back even better because there are those things I need to improve on and want to improve on. I’m not giving myself the best opportunities.

“Even though the results have looked great, I’m not making my life very easy for myself at the minute. So if I can work on those things, then I’ll be in a better place.”

Hungary “the most rewarding” win

Norris took extra satisfaction from his Hungary victory due to a strategy gamble.

Norris’ previous wins have often been comfortable from pole position, while his maiden victory in Miami was due to the fortunate timing of a Safety Car.

“I think it’s one of the first ones I’ve won in probably this manner,” Norris added.

“I’ve not won many races, so most circumstances are still new, but I think it’s the first one where doing a completely alternate strategy to most, giving myself that opportunity, worked out.

“I think there have been some others where going long in the first stint, Miami, then getting the Safety Car, things like that have helped me from a luck side. Today, there was not really any of that. So, I think the most rewarding from

“let’s try to do something different” and it working out, which was a good one.

“It’s a tough strategy to do, but it worked out. That’s the most important thing. And, honestly, I didn’t really think it was going to work for the majority of that second stint. But with every lap, I kind of gained more confidence that it was going to be closer and closer. So, yeah, definitely a rewarding one.”