Lando Norris delivers blunt verdict after George Russell’s driving style concerns
Lando Norris has no sympathy for a driver needing to change his driving style
George Russell’s fears that he needed to overhaul his driving style for Formula 1’s new generation of cars have been dismissed by Lando Norris, who insisted any driver unable to adapt is “not at a good enough level”.
Before discovering a “serious issue at play” with his W17, Russell had questioned whether he needed to adapt his driving style to suit the new generation of cars by emulating Kimi Antonelli’s style rather than follow his own instincts.
Lando Norris responds to George Russell’s driving style comments
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Antonelli has been the standout Mercedes driver this season and leads Russell in every stat that matters.
Antonelli is ahead in Grand Prix qualifying, six to four, leads by the same margin in the Grands Prix, and holds a 50-point lead over his teammate in the Drivers’ standings.
It left Russell to question whether he needed to adapt his driving style to suit the new generation of cars – even asking if he should emulate Kimi Antonelli’s style rather than following his own instincts.
“It’s like if somebody asked you to draw the Mona Lisa and you’ve got the Mona Lisa next to you, do you think you could achieve it straight away?” explained the Briton.
Russell’s comments about needing to adapt were put to Norris in Hungary.
And the reigning world champion delivered a blunt response.
“I mean, I’ve had to change my driving style every single year of my life,” he told PlanetF1.com and other accredited media.
“I guess, maybe lucky, for him it’s worked for 20 years, for me it’s not worked.
“For me, my driving style worked back in 2018 when I did my test year. That’s probably about it. Ever since then I’ve had to change.
“I think the more experience you have in Formula 1, the better equipped you should be.
“If you’re not ready to adapt to a different car, yeah, then you’re not at a good enough level, simply.
“It’s our job, it’s what we’ve got paid millions to do. It’s to drive any car you get given, whether it’s a good one, a bad one, an easy one or a hard one. You have to do it.”
The Briton has often spoken about needing to adapt to his McLaren. The “characteristics” of the 2024 MCL38 were not to his liking, while even in 2025, the year he won the title, he was vocal about how the car “still doesn’t suit at all my driving style”.
That trend has continued this season with the new generation of cars.
“Every single race I come into at the minute, I feel like I have to completely forget the last weekend and learn how to drive a new car, because that’s how it is for us,” he said.
“Every driver is different. But for me, my whole career in F1 has been about how I can change my driving style every season. I’m very used to doing that.”
Russell did subsequently backtrack on his driving style comment, revealing that Mercedes had uncovered a “calibration” issue in the power unit.
“We keep going through this process of ‘oh, we think it’s this’. We change it. ‘Oh it’s not this, maybe it’s the driving style,'” Russell admitted.
“I thought it was the driving style. Honestly, I came into this weekend and said on Thursday ‘I think it’s the driving style’. Changed the driving style and it’s not the driving style.
“The team are working super hard to understand what it is.”
Russell revealed it took a “huge load off my mind” after working to adapt his driving style “for nothing” as the true cause of his struggles now identified.
Additional reporting by Thomas Maher
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