Windsor compares Norris to Verstappen: ‘People have no idea!’

08:41, 24 Jul

Updated: 10:58, 24 Jul

bySandy van Wijngaarden

Peter Windsor has defended Lando Norris against his critics, saying anybody who does so "has no clue about racing or life."

In the last two Grands Prix, in Austria and Great Britain, Norris got up onto the top step of the podium, posing as little grief for the Brit as possible as he found joy in his own performance.

However, the McLaren driver has had multiple struggles in qualifying throughout 2025, and that has resulted in plenty of harsh criticism on himself in front of the media, something that the 25-year-old has done throughout his time in F1.

Lando Norris' victory at the British Grand Prix meant he closed the gap to teammate Oscar Piastri to just eight points at the top of the drivers' standings.

Windsor defends Norris’ approach

Peter Windsor immediately stood up for Norris on his YouTube channel: "I think anybody who criticises Lando for being self-critical has no idea about racing or life, to be honest.

“The only way you can improve in life is to be self-critical. You also have to have a lot of auto-suggestion. You need to be very self-disciplined. But, in order to maximise, you've got to be self-critical. Refreshingly, I think he's more self-deprecating than self-critical actually.

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"I think there's a difference between the two and some people confuse them," continued the Australian. "I think he is possibly self-deprecating too much. 'Oh, well, you know, I didn't do that very well. And Max is so good, or Oscar's this.'

"There's a difference between that and saying, 'What Oscar's doing is something I've got to learn from.' There the two different things, and I think he is a bit too self-deprecating."

Being self-critical is something that Norris shares with greats in the sport, like Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, Windsor believes.

"I think he needs to be a little bit more in charge of his side of the garage, and his way of doing things is the right way. But, at the same time, he needs to be very self-critical, perhaps even more self-critical than he is.

"Max is self-critical, Lewis is self-critical, Charles [Leclerc] is self-critical in terms of their techniques. I think Isaac Hadjar is too, much more than say Liam Lawson is, for example, or Carlos is, Carlos Sainz," concluded the 73-year-old.