Johnny Herbert has lavished praise upon McLaren driver Lando Norris after the Brit’s impressive first half of the 2021 Formula One season. Herbert thinks that the 21-year-old’s change in attitude towards his team-mate has helped improve him as a driver.
Herbert noted that, while it was heartwarming to see Norris and his former driving partner at McLaren Carlos Sainz Jr mucking around during Grand Prix weekends, it may have been that casual nature which affected his performances on race days.
The 57-year-old thinks that Norris’ growth as a person and greater experience in the sport have helped him start to realise his potential, particularly as he is no longer teamed up with someone he considers a close friend.
Daniel Ricciardo joined McLaren in 2021 to replace Sainz and has been outshone by the younger Norris.
Speaking to Motorsportmagazine, Herbert said: “There’s a wonderful maturity starting to appear in him, and it’s a maturity that we haven’t seen in recent years when he was at McLaren teaming up with Carlos Sainz Jr.
“Now that he’s teamed up with Daniel Ricciardo there’s a mental change – because they’re not friends.
“Lando doesn’t want to be a friend and that’s the right attitude to have. You have to be ruthless at some point.”
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Herbert is not the first person to show appreciation for Norris’ progression this year. During the Styrian Grand Prix in June, Norris managed to hold off seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton for 15 laps.
When the 36-year-old finally passed Norris, he was heard on his radio saying: “Such a great driver, Lando.”
Norris was clearly overjoyed at the comment – both immediately after the race when he was shown the clip and in more considered thoughts a few days later.
Before the British Grand Prix, Norris said: “It was cool hearing it from Lewis. More so than from any other driver in F1.
“It was in the middle of the race which I wouldn’t ever do. And it was a bit odd because you don’t expect to hear it.