‘I laugh at the bad comments’: Lando Norris on dealing with online abuse and a ‘tough’ year on-track

Exclusive interview: One of Formula 1’s biggest stars talks about the perils of life away from the paddock as well as his deep desire to win his first Grand Prix

At the peak of last year’s exhilarating title showdown between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, F1 revealed the results of a survey conducted among over 150,000 fans in 187 countries. Within the number-crunching that followed, the most popular name among female fans and under-25s stood out. Because it wasn’t Verstappen, nor was it seven-time world champion Hamilton. Instead, it was Lando Norris.

The affable 22-year-old, in his fourth season with McLaren, is now a household name but goes about his business nonchalantly; an undeniable swagger which has grown year-on-year in correlation with his booming popularity.

This chat for instance takes place a day after Norris, to use his own words, “shockingly” competed at the BMW PGA Championship Pro-am at Wentworth but where he had “more fans than Rory (McIlroy)… I think!”

We speak too whilst his neck is covered in a Daniel Ricciardo-directed honey badger and a love heart, inspired for a video on McLaren’s social channels.

This is what makes Norris so trendy with Generation Z. His golf rounds are viewable to all online. His gaming sessions are streamed live on Twitch. His face on This Morning is now well-known. Yet beneath the warm bravado, bouncing around the motorhome like a spring chicken, is a man all too aware of the dangers of social media and the abuse it can trigger.

Norris played at the BMW PGA Championship Pro-am at Wentworth on Wednesday (Getty Images)

“I don’t even have Twitter on my phone,” he reveals to The Independent. “With Instagram, I use it the amount I need to. Of course I read the comments, everyone does. I just laugh at the bad comments.

“I’m a Formula 1 driver but life isn’t always mint and glorious. There’s a lot of perks but you still have tough times. It does feel heavier when you read a bad comment, it wipes out 10 good comments! But that’s life. You see it, you laugh at it, you move on.”

Yet it would be a mistake to confuse his benevolent nature with insouciance. He is very aware of the pros, and cons, of the notoriety he has: the balance to share the action-packed life and times of Lando Norris responsibly.

“You do have to be more careful with things that are interpreted differently around the world,” he explains. “It’s a little bit why I’ve gone away from it, I don’t stream anywhere near as much now.

Lando Norris speaks to The Independent in Monza (McLaren )

“I can say something casually with a group of friends but, I don’t know why, but it’s so easy for people in 2022 to take something and disagree with it when they probably say the same thing to their friends. It’s stupid stuff – I just get on with my own life.”

While aware of his off-track platform, Norris aims to find a balancing act for the time being: “It’s not the job of drivers to talk about those things. There’s a time and a place, Lewis (Hamilton) wasn’t doing the things he’s doing now during his first three years with McLaren.

“People like Lewis or Seb (Vettel) do it because they want to make an impact. Plenty of drivers just want to do their job and go home. At the minute, I’m in the middle. If I can voice something good for the world then I’ll do it because I want to.”

To matters on track, where Norris’ competitive streak and talent in abundance is striking. His lap times all year in a struggling McLaren have been impressive, especially compared to outgoing teammate Ricciardo. He is “the best of the rest”, positioned seventh in the Drivers Championship behind the pairings at Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes. Does he take any solace in that?

Norris finished third in Imola back in April - his only podium so far this year (Getty Images)

“I’m satisfied with it but within the big picture am I happy? No, I want to win races – I’m not here to keep finishing P7,” he firmly states.

“Last year we were rewarded more when we did a good job. At Imola and Monza we got podiums. This year we do a good job and it can be P8 or P9 - that part of it is tough.

“You’ve just got reset what your targets are. It’s tough when you want to be higher. But you’ve got to set mini-targets and treat them more as mini-wins.”

With all eyes on Ferrari this afternoon as Charles Leclerc starts on pole, Norris starts in third as a result of numerous grid penalties. But nearly a year after a race win slipped away, quite literally, in the rain in Sochi, his pursuit of a maiden Grand Prix triumph continues in earnest.

At Monza, the fastest track on the calendar with a history of big incidents, don’t count Norris out.