‘I hate everyone’ – Lando Norris on the ‘nonsense’ perception of on-track friendships

Lando Norris opened up on his “hate everyone” mentality that he uses in racing, knocking back the idea of friendships extending to the track as “just nonsense”.

Having impressed for much of his F1 career since debuting with McLaren in 2019, Norris finds himself in uncharted territory with an F1 2024 World Championship challenge becoming increasingly possible having narrowed Max Verstappen’s lead to 52 points, Norris dominating in Singapore last time out while Verstappen has gone eight races without a win.

Lando Norris has no room for friends on track

Norris and Verstappen are friends off the circuit, but Norris believes there is a perception that this influences how he approaches Verstappen on the track. It could not be further from the truth.

“As soon as I put the helmet on, I hate everyone. That doesn’t change,” Norris told The Athletic .

“A lot of people think because I get along with someone here, or because, I don’t know, just play on a game with someone, that you’re just best mates in life, no matter what you do. That’s just nonsense.

“We do those things. We have similar interests. We play paddle together, that kind of stuff. And I like Max as a guy, I think he’s a very genuine guy. But that doesn’t change anything when I’m on the track.

“I think the people you actually get along with more out of the track are the people you want to beat more when you’re on the track, which is the opposite thought to what a lot of people have.

“They think because you’re mates there, you’re too nice on the track. I think it’s the complete opposite.”

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And there is no space for niceties from Norris when it comes to racing Verstappen, his toughest rival.

“Max is probably the hardest guy to race on the track,” Norris stated.

“He’s probably one of the most aware in terms of situations. And helped by him being in this position for the last four or five years.

“For me, it’s still quite new.”

Norris’ victory in Singapore was his most comprehensive yet, having claimed pole, banished his start demons and disappeared up the road to win by 21 seconds over Verstappen.

And it had former Red Bull driver David Coulthard – a 13-time race winner – waxing lyrical about the significance.

“What a performance, human and machine in perfect harmony,” Coulthard told Channel 4 .

“But it’s almost like Lando, he doesn’t… He’s so humble and so approachable, he doesn’t realise how great and significant his performances are right now, you know.

“I want to put him in the sort of [Ayrton] Senna, [Michael] Schumacher, [Lewis] Hamilton at his best, type performances.

“We can all win a Grand Prix by getting a bit lucky, but this was exceptional.”

Norris has just six grands prix and three sprints remaining to address that 52-point gap to Verstappen if he is to achieve World Championship glory this season

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