Zak Brown Names One Aspect Lando Norris ‘Needs to Stop’ over F1 Title Ambitions

Zak Brown pinpointed the one aspect that Lando Norris needed to completely shut off to have a real shot at the 2025 F1 title.

Zak Brown Names One Aspect Lando Norris ‘Needs to Stop’ over F1 Title Ambitions

Zak Brown and Lando Norris (via IMAGO)

Lando Norris is trying hard to remain at the top of his game in the 2025 season. However, the Briton is unable to match up to his teammate Oscar Piastri‘s pace on the grid. Norris is trailing the Aussie by 16 points after committing multiple mistakes since the beginning of the year. Now, McLaren CEO, Zak Brown singles out the aspect that the 25-year-old must stop immediately in order to seriously contend for the title down the season.

Lando Norris is infamous for being too critical of himself and his mistakes while racing on the track. While this habit sounds great in theory, it causes Norris to suffer from a lack of confidence at times and be unable to compete at the forefront. Moreover, the 25-year-old pushes for perfection and tries to go that extra mile in order to gain an advantage. However, Zak Brown believes that he must now stop this habit and get his head down in the game.

Zak Brown asserted that Lando Norris must stop striving for perfection all the time. The 25-year-old needs to accept his shortcomings at times and settle for less than perfect. Brown reckoned that no driver said that they had lodged the perfect lap. Meanwhile, Norris keeps on pushing himself to that extra mile to improve his performances. Hence, the 53-year-old reckoned that the Briton needed to focus on doing his best and nothing more.

He needs to stop striving for perfection. You talk to any driver, they’ll always say they’ve never done the perfect lap. Just focus on doing the best you can.

Zak Brown said, as quoted by RacingNews365

Brown reiterated that perfection for him meant giving one’s best and not pondering the final results, but trusting the process. He pointed out that McLaren could always push for a faster pit stop than 1.8s during a race, which didn’t make much sense. The reason was that the engineers and mechanics were already giving it their all and had potentially peaked in improvement. Moreover, the 53-year-old asserted that even if Lando Norris missed the apex by three inches or less, it was normal and need not be treated as a big blunder in performance.

For me, perfection is doing the best you can, and if you miss that apex by three inches or brake a metre too late, that’s going to happen. At every pit stop, if we do a 1.8-second stop, I bet we could do a 1.78. But don’t go into each pit stop saying, ‘I want to do 1.78’. Just go into each pit stop and do the best you can. That’s a better place to be.

Zak Brown added

Zak Brown reveals McLaren’s ‘good innovation’ in first six races

McLaren has started the year off in great form after winning five out of the six races already. Woking continues to remain the team to beat due to their highly superior challenger pace. Moreover, Zak Brown revealed that the team spent more time on the simulator to find out furthermore improvements against the rivals. The 53-year-old spilled the beans on what the British constructor achieved in terms of improvements over the first six rounds with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris (via Motorsportweek)
McLaren drivers, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris (via Motorsportweek)

Brown pointed out that McLaren continued the simulator work despite being the fastest car on the grid. Although the exact point of innovation isn’t revealed, the 53-year-old notes that the change has successfully materialized through the wheel and is providing a great boost in performance. Apart from this, the Englishman isn’t concerned with Lando Norris’ sensitivity towards the handling of the car, as Woking finds themselves in a great place to be in terms of development.

We have spent some time on the simulator to have a little bit better understanding of what we’ve done with the car and how that materialises through the steering wheel. It was a good innovation… but I think we’re in a good place.

Zak Brown noted

McLaren has already achieved a massive 105-point gap to the trailing team, Mercedes, in the constructors’ championship. Moreover, both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have a comfortable enough lead over the drivers behind in the drivers’ title standings. Hence, the team must keep up with the same development throughout the year to remain at the top of the table against the rival’s ever-growing pace.

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