Lando Norris ‘super strength’ highlighted in ‘melting’ Raikkonen comparison

Jacques Villeneuve said that Lando Norris being “very vocal about his mistakes” is a trait which he has long since regarded a “super strength”, not a weakness as some others have.

Villeneuve compared Norris’ approach to that of 2007 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen, known as ‘The Iceman’ for his steely, no-nonsense persona. But, Villeneuve said that Raikkonen was an example of a driver not displaying his true emotions.

Jacques Villeneuve: Lando Norris approach ‘how you make progress’

Norris has been very open in the past about his struggles with mental health, and is known as a driver to be hard on himself. That has stirred up a continued debate over how this translates into potential for F1 success.

Norris is answering that question in F1 2025. An engine failure back at Zandvoort left him 34 points behind McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri at the top of the Drivers’ Championship, but Norris has transformed that into a one-point lead with four rounds to go.

Last time out in Mexico, the pressure was on for Norris, as he prepared to launch from pole, while Piastri was P7 only. Max Verstappen, who has worked his way back into the title fight, was fifth on the grid. Opportunity was knocking in a major way.

Norris’ answer was to dominate, as he took the chequered flag with a victory margin of 30 seconds over Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

Appearing on Sky’s ‘The F1 Show’ podcast, Villeneuve, the 1997 World Champion, stressed that he always believed in Norris’ honest approach, which leads to the “progress” which the Brit is now displaying.

“We are too quick to judge on the psychic of a driver, just because of what we see on the outside. But that doesn’t mean that’s what’s going on internally,” said Villeneuve.

“Lando was always very vocal about his mistakes. Even when they weren’t, he was actually taking the blame, and everybody judged that as him being so weak and beaten and down, and I always thought no, actually, being able to admit, to go out like that, to always take the blame, that’s how you make progress.

“Owning your own mistakes, and even the ones that aren’t yours, that’s how you actually step up, understand, what can I do different so I don’t get into that situation again. It’s not a weakness. It’s a super strength, to be able to blurt it out like that.

“But, in modern society and social media, you just get blasted. ‘Oh, look how weak he is. He’s talking down on himself.’ No, that wasn’t weakness, and we can see it now with the reaction where a lot of other drivers are completely expressionless.”

Take Kimi Raikkonen, Villeneuve says, for example.

“We had the same thing with Raikkonen in the past,” Villeneuve continued. “Everybody would say, ‘Oh, Iceman. Look, nothing gets to him.’ And that was totally the opposite. Internally, they were melting, but we just couldn’t see it, and by the time we realised, it’s often too late.”

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Nine-time F1 podium visitor Martin Brundle also appeared on the podcast. It was put to him that while Norris traditionally faced question marks over whether he had the stomach for a title fight, that has now transitioned to Piastri, amid a drop in form at this crucial point on the season.

“It’s a pressure game,” said Brundle. “That’s the same in any high-level sport. It’s mostly in your head in the end.

“But a year ago, I’d have said no with Lando, but he and the team have done so much work on this aspect, just the way he’s batted away disappointment.

“Because Baku, whatever they say, Baku was a wasted opportunity. Obviously, the contact in Canada hurt him. He couldn’t do anything about the engine failure in Zandvoort, and he obviously couldn’t do anything about getting clouted in Austin. But he’s managing that, even the booing at the end of the race [in Mexico].

“He’s just finding a way to compartmentalise that, package it up, not let it get to him. And Lando of a year or two ago, wouldn’t have handled the start as well as that [in Mexico]. I think he’s really sort of completing the full set of cards there.”

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