Karun Chandhok believes that Lando Norris has been ‘much more calm’ in his radio interactions with race engineer Will Joseph this season. The 24-year-old is enjoying a breakthrough season, claiming his first Grand Prix victory and holding the title of the only driver to have scored in all nine races so far.
Previously, Norris could be easily irked by his radio communications, and his approach to self-criticism also attracted intrigue. The McLaren star was quick to label his performances as ‘failures’, opting for an overly harsh assessment of his performances. However, this has recently changed, and he is growing in confidence with every passing week.
Since claiming his maiden Grand Prix victory in Miami, Norris has been a near-constant threat in the fight for wins. With a little more fortune, he could have beaten Max Verstappen in both Imola and Montreal, and his P1 award in Barcelona on Saturday was a clear statement of intent from a driver who feels comfortable in his new position.
Discussing Norris’ newfound calmness, Chandhok told Sky Sports F1: “I’ve found, listening to the radio communications, [Lando is] much more calm, much more measured in the way he thinks about the race. We saw that come through in Miami.”
The Bristol-born driver’s colleague offered F1TV an insight into how easy it was to keep Norris focused during the closing stages of his fight for victory in Miami. The relationships between F1 stars and their engineers are unique, and Joseph and Norris’ is no exception.
“You just treat the race like it is any other race so we were monitoring everything like we normally do,” Joseph explained. “Lando was driving very, very well so you try and forget it you try and put that aside and just behave like normal.”
Norris is now brimming with confidence after establishing himself as a consistent threat for race wins, and he was full of belief heading into qualifying on Saturday too. “That was an awesome lap,” Zak Brown told Sky Sports F1. “I spoke to Lando and Oscar before they went out and Lando had the confidence that he had a shot at pole.”
If Norris can convert his pole position into victory around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya then he will be tempted to start eyeing up the deficit to championship leader Verstappen, who leads second-placed Charles Leclerc by 56 points heading into the 10th race of the season.
