Lando Norris maintains a good relationship with his McLaren team-mate Daniel Ricciardo despite the Australian’s impending exit from the team.
Two of the most popular drivers on the grid, the pair were billed as something of a marketing dream team when Ricciardo joined the squad in 2021.
That has never really materialised into the social media banter many predicted, certainly based on their interactions prior to last year, but Norris says that is no reflection on their relationship.
“I want to be friends with as many people as possible and similar to how I am now with Daniel, you know, we get on really well,” the Brit explained.
“For some reason, people think otherwise. But it’s completely untrue.
“We have a lot of fun together, we spend a lot of time together.”
Norris developed a deep friendship with former team-mate Carlos Sainz during their two seasons together.
The pair often socialise together and are frequent golfing companions.
“We’re good friends away from the track,” Norris said of this Spaniard.
“It’s nice coming into Formula 1 with a team-mate that was helpful. He helped me learn many things, and get the rhythm of Formula 1, and that’s something that stays with you for a long time.
“But I think it’s just clear that we have a lot of respect for each other. I supported him on his adventure to Ferrari, and when things changed, and I think he supports me in a similar way.”
That is not, Norris added, to diminish how he and Ricciardo get along, with the relationship simply different, and less social, with his current team-mate.
“Things are different, just because he’s a bit older and he’s into different things. He’s not into playing golf and so on.
“Therefore, you don’t see it as much on social media and whatever.
“But yeah, I think our friendship is good and the respect we have for each other and I’m pretty sure that will continue into the future.”
While the relationship he enjoys with Ricciardo may be positive, Norris has admitted that he feels no sympathy for the Australian’s current predicament.
“I would hate to say it, but I would say no,” he admitted.
“People probably hate me for saying it but it’s difficult because I never knew if I might encounter that in the future, with this car or with a different team or whatever.
“So I never want to contradict myself going into the future, but I’ve just got to focus on my driving and my job.
“It’s not my job to focus on someone else, and I’m not a driver coach, I’m not here to help and do those kinds of things; I’m here to perform at my absolute best, and that’s about it.
“So it’s difficult when people start to have an expectation that it’s my job to also start doing these other things and helping and describing this and doing that, when that’s not really the case.
“It’s also the case that, if I don’t perform well for a few years, that it can also be the end of my career, and then of me driving in Formula 1. So I’ve got to focus on myself for the majority of it.
“In the beginning of the year, Daniel was performing better than I was in the pre-season tests and stuff,” he added.
“It looked like he could just go out naturally and drive the car how he wanted to, and I just started to learn a new way of driving compared to how I’ve been used to driving the car for the last few years.
“So I feel like I’ve had to do a job of adapting.
“I don’t feel like, for any driver on the grid, you will have to feel perhaps sympathy for them because they’ve not been able to do as good of a job.”
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