Lando Norris has revealed that his approach to reading comments about him on social media has changed considerably, with him having “cared too much” about what people wrote about him at the start of his Formula 1 career.
Social media plays a huge role in F1 these days, with it more often than not being full of distasteful comments.
Hate comments by supposed fans towards drivers and teams has, unfortunately, become the norm for F1, with Norris viewing those writing the horrible things as “idiots”.
Norris revealed how back in 2019 and 2020 he used to care a lot about the bad things which were said about him online, something he’s had to “learn” to deal with.
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The 23-year-old has developed an understanding now of just listening to the “people that you respect”, rather than those who have “no idea about something”.
“I guess in 2019, 2020, like I would read something and I’d be like, ‘Why is this person said this or done that?’” Norris told the Beyond the Grid podcast.
“I almost cared too much about what people think. I’ve to be careful how I say it, because people are going to headline it and go, ‘Oh, Lando doesn’t care about it’.
“But you have to learn to listen to the people that you respect, and understand what people are saying but, at the same time, when you know someone has no idea about something or just says it simply because they’re idiots or they’ve got nothing else to do, that’s positive, you know?”
Norris does continue to read the negative comments about him, mostly because he’s decided to “laugh and make fun” of what’s said about him.
The Briton ultimately doesn’t understand why people choose to “waste time of their life” writing horrible things online, with him actually feeling “sorry” for them.
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“Like I don’t get why people would waste… want to waste time of their life, the one life that they live, why people even want to spend time doing these things?” Norris said.
“Fighting bad stuff and trying to find bad things and make bad situations. Like people actually choosing to spend their life, their one life on Earth doing such things, which makes absolutely no sense to me.
“So I’ve got to a point now where I really enjoy seeing what people write about me. Of course, I love the good things and it’s great to read at times. I’ve just learned to laugh and make fun of the bad things because I just feel sorry for the person who’s actually had to come up with that stuff in the first place that’s brought amusement to them.”