Lando Norris Focused on being "Good Person" during Title Fight

As Lando Norris headed into the 2025 season, he is favored to win the Drivers' Championship, yet this hasn't notably changed his perspective on life.

The stereotype of the champion involves doing whatever it takes to win, pushing right up to the boundary of what is acceptable, and sometimes even crossing it, all in the name of victory.

Norris, however, is unwilling to change anything about himself to become a champion. If he succeeds, it will be based on his own standards.

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— McLaren (@McLarenF1) April 5, 2025

“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.

“I want to win a championship. 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 as much as some others, in terms of who I am as a person and have the ‘fuck you’ mentality people say you’ve got to have."

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

Two races into the season, Norris is leading the Drivers' Championship, though the season is less than 10% complete.

In 2024, Max Verstappen challenged Norris throughout the year. As the title race intensified, many people urged Norris to be ruthless and prioritize his competitive spirit over his off-track friendship with Verstappen.

“What people want you to believe is you have to think you’re the best in the world, you have to think you can beat everyone,” he says.

“That is a great attitude to have but I don’t think it’s the only attitude you have to have if you want to be a champion."

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“I want to just enjoy my life. That’s kind of the attitude that’s maybe not as much of a killer instinct. I just don’t think you have to have that to be a world champion."

"I want to prove you can be a world champion and not have it."

"But 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.”

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Characters such as his close friend Max Verstappen perfectly fit the stereotype of a champion by constantly pushing the boundaries of acceptable on-track behavior and regularly crossing those lines.

When Verstappen encounters a challenge, he aims to retaliate with even greater intensity, with no clearer example than his title battle with Lewis Hamilton.

Norris, however, does not seek to surpass anyone or prove himself; instead, he simply wishes to compete alongside his heroes.

“I’ve just never seen myself to be as good as Lewis [Hamilton] or even the guys I grew up with,” he explained to the Guardian.

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— McLaren (@McLarenF1) April 5, 2025

“Lewis, George [Russell], or Charles [Leclerc], or Fernando [Alonso], Seb [Vettel], these guys. I never saw myself being in a position of being in F1 in the first place."

“For me it was just cool to be able to race against them, more than I want to prove that I’m better.”

If Norris secures the Drivers' title for the Woking-based team, he will undoubtedly celebrate and take pride in his success.

At this point in his life and career, he sees himself as a winner not by what occurs on the track, but rather by measures of personal growth and self-improvement.

“I am still very hard on myself, just probably a bit less publicly now than what I was in the past,” Norris says.

“But I can also deal with things better than I could.”

The saying "nice guys finish last" has existed for years, but if he won the title, Lando Norris could become one of the few nice guys to come out on top.