Norris insists he wants to win F1 title “by being a nice guy”

Lando Norris says he is ready to claim the Formula 1 title – but he’s determined to do it on his own terms “by being a nice guy”.

The 25-year-old has long been depicted as the calm, mild-mannered counterpoint to reigning four-time champion Max Verstappen’s fiery personality.

“I feel like there is a very prescribed version of how people say a world champion needs to be – overly aggressive,” Norris told the Guardian in what appeared to be a thinly-veiled reference to the Red Bull driver.

“I’d rather just be a good person and try to do well. I’ll do whatever I can to win a championship but maybe I won’t sacrifice in my life … or have the ‘f**k you’ mentality people say you’ve got to have.

“I still believe I can be a world champion but doing it by being a nice guy.”

The McLaren ace said he could “easily” pretend to be cut from the same cloth as some of his rivals, but that would be inauthentic.

“I don’t have as much of a killer instinct as probably most of the drivers or most champions because I was just not brought up that way,” he explained.

“I can go and pretend I’ve got a killer instinct and act like a bit of a d**k that might give people that perception … but there are certain things I would not do that other champions have done.”

In fact, Norris says he is on a mission to prove he can win the title while still “enjoying life”, both on and off the track: “I don’t want to be pushed around and I also never want to be seen as giving things up because I’m too nice.

“I’ll still fight for things and I’ll still take risks and I’ll still do whatever I know I can do to be a world champion but without losing the liberty of who I am.”

Lando Norris, McLaren

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

Elsewhere in the interview, Norris candidly discussed his struggles with mental health, particularly in the early years of his career.

“When I had the negative thoughts of everything and about my own performances, then I would start to think negatively about the next weekend when it’s not even arrived yet,” he recalled.

“It was visible to see on the outside how negative I was and I still am. I’m still the kind of guy that will say: ‘I did a s**t job today and I did terrible and I wasn’t good enough.’ Not many other people will probably admit to those kind of things but that will always be me. It was having a toll on me and my wellbeing.”

Like many athletes who have grappled with bouts of depression, and other mental health struggles in the public eye, Norris is aware of his privileged position.

“The worst bit of all of it is that I know how lucky I am to travel the world, get paid well – I can almost do whatever I want in my life,” he said. “So I feel like I don’t have the right sometimes to maybe complain or to say certain things as much as other people.

“But, for me, it’s certainly been a win talking about it because of the amount of messages that I got from people, saying how much having someone in my position and being able to relate to that has helped them.”

After waxing lyrical about his aspirations to be world champion, Norris admitted that winning races isn’t as important as the health and safety of his fans.

“Even if it was just one message, that’s made me happier because when it’s mentioned that you saved their life because they wanted to end their life,” he said of the messages he received after speaking out about depression.

“I got quite a few of them; that makes me happier than winning a race. That’s just my perception of life, that’s a bigger impact. Because you made a difference. Winning a race doesn’t make a difference.”