Confidence still not as high as 2024 despite “dream” F1 title lead

Lando Norris is leading the Formula 1 drivers’ championship after a start to the season he would have “dreamed of” – but he admits he is heading into the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix lacking in confidence.

The McLaren has proved to be the class of the field so far in 2025, but Norris has complained how difficult it is to tame the MCL39 with his driving style and he has seen team-mate Oscar Piastri claim two victories since Norris himself took the chequered flag in Australia.

As someone who has always been self-critical – something Norris claimed here in Jeddah helps him “95%” of the time – the Briton has been doing some soul searching since the Bahrain Grand Prix, where he eventually finished third after a qualifying error and a penalty for a false start.

“I needed a couple of days off, I said I needed a reset, probably would have liked a few more days altogether, but I made the most of my three days relaxing, kind of getting away from it a little bit,” he said.

“But at the same time I think with every athlete’s mind and every driver’s mind, as much as you try and get away, you’re still thinking of a lot of things. I know I could have been better, but still leading the championship after not being happy, after not feeling comfortable in the car, it’s still a start to the year that I would have dreamed of before the season started.

“I think I’ve tried to remind myself of some of the positives, which there’s still been quite a few of, but there’s still a lot of me and being myself. I’ve been trying to figure out the issues, the struggles, the reasoning behind it all, which is the most difficult thing, trying to find the answers to things. Which I think we’re along the right track.

“I’m trying to improve in some of those areas. I want to come into this weekend full of confidence and know that things are going to turn around. [But] I still think there are things I’m going to be struggling with because certain things you cannot change at the minute.”

As Norris attempts to overcome what he believes his holding him back from delivering his best this season, for now he remains content with fixing the issues race by race.

“There are certain things that I’m able to maybe re-look into from an approach point of view, from a driving style point of view. Stuff which I’ve probably never had to think of necessarily before, it’s just not my normal way of driving or thinking. And then go from there,” he said.

“So it’s also a weekend where I want to perform, I want to do well, but it’s early on enough in the season where if I can try and work on some things here and improve in some areas, it will pay off in the long run.”

Having been the closest championship contender to Max Verstappen last season, leading McLaren to the constructors’ crown in the process, Norris concedes his confidence is not at the level it was towards the end of 2024.

“I know I can be so much better and perform at a much higher level than what I’m doing now. My level of confidence was very high at the end of last season, not for any other reason than I just understood the car, I understood how to drive it and I could go out and execute things perfectly.

“Now I cannot, just because my feelings are not there, and my way of driving is not suited at all. I just hate not being able to know how I’m going to go out and perform in a qualifying lap.

“Last year if you asked me if I was confident going into qualifying I would have been much more likely to say yes than now. And that’s just because of how I feel in the car itself.”