“A few people said that I had saved their life,” Lando Norris reveals the impact of him speaking openly about mental health

“A few people said that I had saved their life,” Lando Norris reveals the impact of him speaking openly about mental health

Lando Norris

Social media toxicity and mental health have become quite the topics of discussion in Formula 1, and all sports as a whole. Many Formula 1 drivers (Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton among them) have discussed their mental health struggles, and called out social media toxicity – F1 is now even utilizing AI to try and eliminate that. The reactions to drivers talking about mental health have been rather…mixed, as some feel the focus should solely be on the sport.

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But there’s a flipside to that: Drivers speaking about their own struggles help fans that might be struggling themselves, potentially becoming the catalyst for them finding help or ‘improving’. Lando Norris recently affirmed that this was the case. Back in 2021, he appeared on the ITV show ‘This Morning’ to discuss his mental health (among other things).

Speaking to GQ about that appearance, Norris said: “I didn’t need to do that. It was a choice [to speak about mental health], because I struggled quite a bit with it in 2019 and 2020.” The Briton was still new to the sport, and had trouble getting used to the spotlight – and the pressure that comes from it: “I just didn’t know how to deal with it. I kept all of it inside and it really hurt my self-belief and self-confidence, which got to an all-time low. I doubted myself: Am I good enough to be in Formula 1? Can I come back from this?”

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You can never make everyone happy, Norris reasons, some may never like what he does while others will. To this, the Briton said: “You’re never going to please everyone. There are people that support you and people that don’t… I know I’m doing the best I can.” On the other hand, some have even pointed out that Norris saved their lives: “A few people said that I had saved their life. That hits you pretty hard.”

Related: Mclaren driver Lando Norris pushes Martin Garrix to the limit as the duo work out together

Lando Norris talks about his ‘perfectionism’

Lando Norris
Lando Norris

Formula 1 is a fickle sport – championships and race wins are decided by the slimmest of margins. To be an F1 driver is already a testament to your skill. But everyone is here to win championships – you don’t spend so much money and time on yourself and your career just to get a participation award. Perfectionisim and ‘curiosity’ are important character traits. Lando Norris certainly possess these. Apart from his natural talent for driving, he’s also very thorough with his work.

He likes to know everything related to his work, and potentially his performance: “I love to listen. It might not be something I’m necessarily giving input on, but because I love racing, the more I can know about, that’s a good thing. I’m a perfectionist. I try as hard as I can to be a better driver.” Being a perfectionist means he’s also very critical of himself: “I think I’m a fair loser, but I’ve always been a guy who’s very harsh on myself. I’m very critical of my own performance. I always think, What could I have done better? And then, What could the team have done better?”

Norris is still chasing his first ever race win, and then the championships will be the focus, but right now it’s not looking good. That’s not through his own fault, of course, he was fantastic – especially last season. But currently he just does not have the right package at McLaren. When he does, his dilligence and perfectionism might truly pay off.

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