Sebastian Vettel has praised Lando Norris for being open and honest about his “self-doubt” after F1 near-misses in the last year, labelling the McLaren driver “courageous” for his earnest soundbites.
Norris, 25, who lost his championship lead in Saudi Arabia on Sunday after teammate Oscar Piastri claimed his third win in four races, has spoken regularly in a self-critical manner, both during races on team radio and afterwards in the media pen.
In contention for last year’s drivers’ championship up against Max Verstappen, Norris was regularly open with his true emotions and self-doubt. And even this past weekend in Jeddah, Norris called himself a “f****** idiot” after his crash in qualifying, later standing by his statement, saying “it makes sense.”
Yet four-time F1 world champion Vettel, 37, speaking on the ground in Jeddah, insists Norris should be praised for his attitude in the traditionally macho world of Formula One.
"We're all having good times and bad times, whether we are Formula 1 drivers or having a regular job – aren’t we all like that?” Vettel told Sky Sports F1.
“We have better days and worse days. The threat now is that people talk about what he's maybe going through, and interpret it as a sign of weakness. Like, 'Why is he doing that? What's going on with him? What's wrong with him?'
"Nothing's wrong with him. I think everybody's going through the same things in different phases of your life. Self-doubt is the most natural thing there is, but it's the most unnatural thing to talk about, and that is wrong.
"So, I think it's completely fine and I think it's very courageous of him to open up and talk about that side of him. And I wish and I hope that the media picks it up and turns it a little bit around."
Norris now trails Piastri by 10 points in the drivers’ championship ahead of round six in Miami (2-4 May).
Meanwhile, four-time F1 world champion Vettel, who retired from the sport in 2022 after 16 seasons, was in Saudi Arabia last week for his Race4Women event, encouraging young girls to take up go-karting in the Gulf country.
The former Red Bull, Ferrari and Aston Maritn driver also said he previously spoke with hero Michael Schumacher about self-doubt, which helped his own career.
Vettel added: “I spoke with Michael, and I was relieved when he told me that he had self-doubt.
“My hero, my champion, the guy that was on my walls throughout my childhood had self-doubt.
"It made a lot of pressure go away when I knew that my hero went through the same things. So, I think there's a lot of inspiration to take from it."
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