Norris and Sainz not always the best of friends: 'Often hated each other'

The 'bromance' between Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris became an interesting topic of conversation over the past two years. However, in a new interview Norris explains that it wasn't always very cosy at McLaren.

Norris often hated Sainz

Your teammate is actually your biggest opponent in Formula 1, because he is the only driver with exactly the same material. Based on the internal team duel you can distinguish yourself as a driver. A very good relationship is therefore rarely seen in Formula 1. At McLaren, however, that seemed to be the case between Norris and Sainz, although not everything was always friendly according to the Brit.

''There is always tension between teammates, even when people say there is none. Sometimes you try to hide that tension, like it was between me and Carlos. We have also often hated each other. You don't want to succumb to your teammate and you don't want to look bad. He is the last person you want to lose to,'' Norris admitted to Motorsport-total.com.

Good friends

''Even if you manage to put a smile on your face, deep down it hurts a lot and you hate the other person just because they are so fast, do something you struggle with or because you just can't keep up with them,'' says the McLaren driver. Yet Norris also admits that working with Sainz was very good.

''I had never spoken to him before and didn't know him, but we became friends off the track. On the track, however, we are rivals and good teammates. We want to take the team forward and win races. On the other hand, we are also ambitious ourselves, but it worked very well. It was the perfect combination,'' concludes Norris, who will have another tough task in Daniel Riccardo as a teammate in 2021.