McLaren driver Lando Norris’ openness in admitting his frailties is “used against him”, according to his former team-mate Carlos Sainz.
Sainz, who partnered Norris at McLaren from 2019-20 and has remained friends with the Briton, told BBC 5 live Sport: “He opens [up] to the media and to people more than any other driver on the grid – and people use that against him.”
Sainz, who now drives for Williams, said: “What you see on TV is what he is as a human being. He’s very good at showing himself.
“I sometimes find it a bit ironic and a bit frustrating. He is probably the only guy being 100% genuine on his feelings and the way he thinks but then people are going back at him.”
Norris ended Friday practice at the Hungarian Grand Prix fastest by 0.291 seconds from team-mate Oscar Piastri.
Norris is 16 points behind the Australian before this race, which marks the end of the first part of the season before Formula 1’s summer break.
Sainz said Norris being criticised for his openness was “a bit sad” because “probably the 19 other drivers have a similar level of doubt and a similar level of self-criticism inside their heads, they just don’t explain it out loud because we prefer to keep it inside and not say it to the media”.
Norris has admitted that he has made errors this season that have cost him points.
Earlier in the year, Norris was struggling with a lack of feel from the front axle of the car, which made it difficult for him to anticipate its behaviour when he was pushing to the limit.
McLaren have made a change to the front suspension to improve this aspect of the car for him, and Norris has been more comfortable since the Canadian Grand Prix in June.
Nevertheless, Norris made errors on his qualifying laps in Canada that left him sixth on the grid, and crashed into Piastri after a misjudgement during the race.
He then won in Austria, and inherited victory at the British Grand Prix when Piastri was penalised for his driving behind a safety car.
Norris then took pole in Belgium last weekend but was overtaken on the first lap by Piastri, who went on to win.
Asked about Norris’ prospects of beating Piastri to the championship this year, Sainz said: “If I base my decision on speed and talent, I’m 100% sure he has that to win a World Championship.
“But F1 also involves a bit of luck, mental resilience, being at home with a car in the right times.
“It doesn’t really matter if he doesn’t win this year, he’ll get another chance. He has 10-15 years in F1. He has the potential, talent and speed.
“If he gets it this year, great I’ll be happy for him. If not, he might get his chance later.”
