Does Norris need to stop beating himself up about missed F1 opportunities?

First thing’s first: Lando Norris is a fantastic Formula 1 driver and one who I have been privileged to watch develop during his racing career.

He’s incredibly down to earth. Funny, engaging, he has cultivated a fanbase that is refreshingly non-toxic on social media, which in the modern world is an achievement in itself.

But there has always been an element to his personality which has often been puzzling, and that’s his ability to be so incredibly hard on himself, especially when things don’t go to plan.

After missing out on the win in Barcelona, having started on pole, and despite an excellent performance from winner Max Verstappen, Norris clearly blamed himself for not winning.

“Today, we were the quickest car. Fact,” he said after the race. “So the team deserved it… I just didn’t do a good enough job. Simple as that.”

When he was knocked out in Q1 during qualifying for last year’s Mexico City Grand Prix, he said: “That one opportunity, that one lap that I was given, I didn’t put it together. I had one lap and I didn’t do it, so it’s on me.”

This was especially hard given his session had been marred by an ill-timed yellow flag.

It is noble that he should take responsibility, but this is a reoccurring theme that is especially noticeable now McLaren has pulled itself into contention to fight for race victories.

He’s not alone in this. McLaren has to learn as a team how to cope with the pressure and expectation – and the disappointment when it does not come off.

But this self-critique is actually nothing new. When he made his F1 debut in 2019 in Australia driving a non-competitive McLaren, he started in eighth but finished 12th, despite being incredibly nervous.

Afterwards he said: “The team gave me a good car, with enough pace for me to be in the top 10, but I made a couple of mistakes which cost me any chance of scoring points, so I’m a little disappointed.”

Those close to Norris know the trait and give it short shrift. McLaren CEO Zak Brown said after the race in Spain: “He’s a bit disappointed as you can understand when you let a win slip away but he’s done an unbelievable job, so I’m not going to sit here and beat him up because he didn’t get the perfect start.”

McLaren’s team principal Andrea Stella also elaborated on his driver’s self-critique, and added: “The fact that Lando might have been harsh on…