30/04/2025
NEWS STORY
Everything else aside, if the 2025 championship is going to be down to the two McLaren drivers the smart money has to be on Oscar Piastri.
As the Australian keeps his head down and gets on with it, Norris is clearly affected by every single set-back, which are usually of his own doing.
The Briton very much wears his heart on his sleeve, and when things are not going well he visibly disappears into the abyss of inner torment that so often goes with failing to live up to one's own - often realistically unachievable - high standards.
"F*****g idiot!" he declared over the team radio after crashing out in qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, and finishing fourth - as his teammate finally took the championship lead - did little to lighten his mood the following day.
Norris is one of several drivers who admit to suffering issues with their mental health over the years, but the McLaren driver appears to be the one most prone to the rollercoaster highs and lows associated with the illness.
Now, trailing his teammate by ten points, Norris realises that it is something he must deal with.
"It's a balance I think I'm still clearly still trying to improve on," he admits, according to Speedcafe. "I do think of the bad stuff, the negative things, more than I think of the positives," he adds. "That attitude is probably something I need to improve and work on.
"I want to do well and I want to get the most out of every session," he continues. "I want to achieve my potential and, at the minute, I'm just not achieving my potential. There's no reason for me to be happy with that.
"I know I'm hard and I know I'm tough on myself, but for 95 percent of it, I think it's a good thing," he insists. "It's what makes me who I am and makes me have a chance in Formula 1 and be with McLaren and be fighting for a world championship.
"But there is, and I accept that there's probably the last few percent which can be a very important few percent where I probably say too many negatives. That gets into my own head and I don't think of the positives as much as I should.
"If I did tell myself, at the beginning of the year, If I could be leading the championship after four races, I would probably be very happy," he admits. "On these journeys, there are a lot of things that I would be so happy about; starting the season off with how the first race in Australia went; achieving the podiums; turning a bad weekend around and still having a podium. There are so many things that I should be happy about, I probably just don't remind myself enough of them.
"That's probably something, the main area I would say, that I need to improve on.
Improve on them he must, for according to 1980 world champion, Alan Jones, Norris' 'weakness' will cost him the title, especially as Piastri has no such issues.
"The first person you've got to beat is your teammate," Jones tells The Back Page when asked about Piastri. "He can (win the title) this year, no question. At the end of the day, his teammate is weak.
"His teammate is quite quick, there's no doubt about that," he adds, "but mentally, I think he's quite a weak person. He's coming out with all this nonsense that he's got a bit of a mental thing, he's dwelling on some of the problems he's had rather than the positives. When they start talking all that nonsense, you know you've got them.
"Oscar is a pretty strong-minded young kid. I love him," admits the Australian. "He doesn't show off, he doesn't dance all over the place, he's just a strong individual and that's exactly what we need to get the job done.
"He's got an old head on young shoulders," he continues. "He's very, very mature. He's very laid back. He's not easily ruffled, whereas I think his teammate is a little bit the opposite way. I think the teammate could be blown out quite easily and I think Oscar will take advantage of that. He's got the brains and the strength to do that. He's very laid back, he doesn't say much and he gets on with it, which I love. Out of the car he's quiet, but when he gets in the car he grows horns and that's what you want."
Referring to the Saudi race and the first corner battle with Max Verstappen, Jones says: "He sees a gap and goes for it, and Oscar is not going to be put off by that. There's a lot of other drivers he'll bluff and hold them to ransom a bit, but I believe Oscar has got the mental strength not to put up with that crap. He'll just take it for what is and give it back to him.
"He is without a doubt a future world champion," insists Jones. "He's come out of almost nowhere and he's got all the attributes that you need to be a world champion.
"Like any Aussie, it's been fantastic," he adds. "If you can tune into any sporting event and there's an Aussie who's a frontrunner or has a chance at achieving victory, it just makes it that much more interesting for you."