Norris open ups on mental struggles that affects his eating and drinking
F1 News
Lando Norris qualified on pole position for the Dutch Grand Prix, and then managed to win the race by more than 20 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen in Zandvoort. According to the Briton, however, preparing for a Grand Prix weekend or a flying lap itself is still mentally challenging for him, he explained in Monza.
"I still get so nervous about qualifying, before the race. I still get just as excited and just as nervous. I don't eat, I barely eat anything on Sundays. I struggle to drink anything on Sundays just because of nerves and just because of pressure, but I think just how you turn that into a positive thing, how do you not let it affect you in a bad way and how can you actually use it in in a good way to help you focus on the correct things and so on," Norris began to explain how he feels week in week out.
According to the McLaren driver, this is the nature of the sport, and have to use it to your advantage. "When you enter Q3 or any qualifying lap, when you have to go out and deliver, you get butterflies every time because there's so much pressure. If you do one thing, brake centimetres or a metre too late, or you turn in the wrong timing or whatever, it is finished, game over, and the knowledge of that just puts you under a very tense feeling. But also it's an amazing feeling at the same time that I don't feel like you can replicate in many other sports and many other things, I'm not too sure. But I still get nervous and I probably will forever get nervous."
'Lost two kilos in Zandvoort'
Norris continued with saying that he does not usually drink during a GP either. "Normally in the morning, I can drink a fair bit, and I can easily mix my drinks with certain carbohydrates and drinks to get some longer-term energy in. But I also don't drink ever during a race. I often don't run with a drinks bottle. I think I've drunk from my water bottle twice ever in F1."
He also added that at the Dutch Grand Prix, he lost two kilograms as a result. "Even in Zandvoort last week, I lost two kilos through the race which is a bit of a surprise, but it's still a physical track and I was pushing the whole way. And yes, two kilos of liquids, and because I don't drink anything back, it's probably not the best thing for me, especially towards the end of the race. So I do try and do it. I just really struggle to and often just forget, and I don't like drinking during the race."
However, the Briton also underlined that he never felt sick because of being nervous. "No, I don't think I've ever gone to the extreme. I've never probably struggled so much. I've never been sick or anything. There are often times I probably feel it, but that's probably as bad as I think it's going to be. But I think normal when it's your first time on a pole or your first time leading races, like you feel different things than what you felt before. But honestly, I've never been that bad," the now two-time Grand Prix winner concluded.
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