Lando Norris discusses racing and mentality lessons learned from Daniel Ricciardo
McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo film a segment with James Corden for American TV. Miami May 2022.
Lando Norris has said he has learned “a hell of a lot” from his time alongside Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren, in ways beyond driving.
Norris largely had the beating of Ricciardo throughout their two seasons together at the team, to such a degree that saw the Australian leave McLaren a year early to make way for Oscar Piastri in 2023, despite leading their one-two finish at Monza in 2021.
Both Ricciardo and McLaren say they ended their relationship on good terms, and he and Norris were able to work well together as team-mates, with the young Briton saying he has been able to grow in confidence by learning from the eight-time race winner.
Norris was speaking about how his one “comfort zone” was being inside the car and driving, while everything else attached to Formula 1 such as the interviews, public speaking and marketing events had been “abnormal” for him.
He described working with Ricciardo at McLaren as an “honour”, and expanded on exactly what lessons he has taken from his now-former team-mate amd how he has become a better driver as a result.
“I’ve been able to learn a hell of a lot from Daniel,” Norris explained in an interview with ESPN in America.
“His approach to racing, his mentality with it all, through the tough times, how he keeps so strong with it all and has so much belief in himself.
“That’s something I struggled with a lot with when I came into Formula 1 and something I’ve been able to learn a lot from him over the past couple of years.
“But even on the driving side, how he drives the car in many ways. Like, you can see those instances of what’s made him so good.
“I guess I try to take them on board. It’s not an easy thing to do, but the more I’ve been able to learn from him, the better I’ve become, and that’s only a good thing for me.”
Norris out-scored Ricciardo by 122 points to 37 in the 2022 season, and was the only driver outside the front three teams of Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes to register a podium finish all year when he took third at Imola.
The 23-year-old will become the senior figure at McLaren when ex-Formula 3 and Formula 2 champion Piastri, aged 21, joins him on a multi-year deal from the new season.
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