Lando Norris heads into the Austrian Grand Prix aiming to rebound from a costly retirement in Canada – and fans are already responding well to his mindset ahead of the weekend.
The McLaren driver collided with teammate Oscar Piastri in Montreal, misjudging an overtake and ending his own race while Piastri went on to finish fourth. That incident widened the gap between them in the standings, with Norris now 22 points behind Piastri.
Team orders didn’t play a role in Canada, but Norris took full responsibility for the coming together. He admitted it was his mistake and said he was ready to move forward – noting that there’s still plenty of time left in the season.
That confidence came through again in Austria, where Norris spoke positively about his chances and addressed the growing noise around his title hopes. “There is a very long way to go in the season, so I’m not worried about anything,” he said. “But of course, I know it’s always never a good thing to lose out on points, no matter what race it is. And obviously, last time out, I was the only one who lost the points.”
He added: “That hurt me, I paid the price for misjudging things like I did. So, yeah, that’s that. And of course, I’ll move on and plenty of time to try and make up for that and try to turn things around.”
He also confirmed that he and Piastri had cleared the air after the Canadian clash. “We’ve spoken about it and everything’s fine. I apologised, it was my mistake. I know what I did wrong and I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Norris said, via F1. “We’re still working well together and there’s no issues – we’re both focused on getting the best results for the team.”
F1 fans impressed by Lando Norris’ positive attitude ahead of Austrian GP
Norris’ openness struck a chord with fans, who praised his outlook in YouTube comments under his media appearance.
One wrote: “You can feel from Lando’s answers how much more confident and decisive he’s become. He’s starting to believe in himself and it shows.”
Another added: “Lando’s got a lot of pressure to handle, both from the fans and himself, but this feels like the turning point. His belief is noticeably stronger than before.”
The season is still young, and Norris knows there’s a long way to go. But after a difficult few weeks, his focus and accountability might be what he needs to get his title ambitions back on track.
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