Lando Norris is approaching the latter half of the Formula One season with renewed confidence and a more relaxed mindset, free from the intense pressure of defending his championship title. The 26-year-old clinched his first World Championship at last year’s Abu Dhabi finale, but McLaren has struggled to keep pace with Mercedes and Ferrari under the new 2026 regulations.
Despite sitting 91 points behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli, Norris secured his first win of the season in Budapest, the final race before the F1 summer break. Reflecting on his approach, Norris revealed that he invested more time preparing for the remaining races this year than he did last year, choosing to prioritise his racing career over typical distractions.
“It’s just a choice. I don’t have to be focused at all,” Norris said ahead of this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix. “It’s just that I chose to spend less time living like a normal 26-year-old and more time thinking of my job.”
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Last year, the pressures of being in the title fight were more taxing, leading Norris to seek escapes from the stresses. This year, however, his mindset has shifted dramatically.
“Last year, you can see it was a lot more stressful, me wanting to kind of take my mind away from things even more so I almost wanted to disconnect more. This year I don’t feel very stressed at all. I feel very relaxed, for two reasons – one because of what I achieved last year and two because I am not in the fight,” he explained.
In 2025, Norris was locked in a fierce championship battle with his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri, alongside Max Verstappen. While the current gap to Antonelli seems significant, Norris notes that similar point deficits have been overcome before. For example, Verstappen was 104 points behind after the Dutch Grand Prix last season but still challenged closely for the title at Abu Dhabi.
The win in Budapest has reignited Norris’s belief that he remains in contention, though he acknowledges it is a different feeling compared to last season.
“Of course I’m in the fight. I don’t mean it in that way, it’s just that I’m not first or second in the championship,” he said. “I still believe it is possible. That’s probably why subconsciously I made the decision to start training a bit earlier. When I get told I am nearly 100 points behind you don’t feel like you are in it, compared to last year when I was 20-30 points behind.
“I still believe I have a chance to defend my title but it’s just not that I’m the main contender in the championship, first and second every weekend. There have not been many reasons to believe it is possible until Budapest. Obviously now it’s a more genuine question.”
Meanwhile, George Russell claimed pole position for Saturday’s sprint race at the Dutch Grand Prix, aiming to close in on Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli in the championship. Antonelli, who will turn 20 next week, returned from the summer break leading the standings by 50 points over Lewis Hamilton, with Russell a further nine points behind Hamilton.
Antonelli has secured six wins this season driving Mercedes’ dominant car, but both Hamilton and Russell are determined to reduce the gap, starting at the seaside circuit in Zandvoort. Russell edged out reigning champion Norris by 0.041 seconds to clinch his first sprint pole of the season, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in third and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri fourth. The top four qualifiers were separated by less than a tenth of a second.
Max Verstappen, fresh from signing a new contract with Red Bull, and Hamilton qualified sixth and seventh respectively, more than half a second behind the pace set by the leaders.