Lando Norris appears to be taking guidance from F1 legend Alain Prost, scaling back his public presence as he trails McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri in the 2025 championship.
Norris, once the championship leader, has faced criticism for his candidness, self-deprecation, and emotional outbursts, in contrast to the reserved Piastri.
Prost, 70, recently wrote in L'Equipe: "Now, everything is shown, everything is experienced, everything is known. Others choose to remain discreet - in my opinion rightly so.
"The new championship leader, Oscar Piastri, hardly talks at all. He's naturally reserved, disappearing between races and freeing himself from this pressure."
Notably, Lewis Hamilton, after facing backlash for his Miami radio and media comments, unfollowed all accounts on Instagram. "Lewis can do what he wants," Norris said. "Good for him."
Norris, 25, revealed he has also retreated from social media, with his last Instagram post for his nearly 10 million followers added a week ago and no activity on X for almost a year. "I've not been on social media for a few weeks now," he said.
"It's not something I enjoy. I don't need to be on it. It's my life and I can do what I like. I still text my friends, but I see social media as a waste of my time and energy. I play golf and I train and I want to be productive."
He denied overthinking his title bid despite slipping behind Piastri due to perceived errors, stating: "I don't care about it and I won't think about it. It's easy for things to change. Oscar has done a good job. But he's just another competitor. Another guy, he's just dressed in the same colours."
Norris attributed Piastri's edge to a better fit with the current McLaren, saying: "I'm obviously not happy with it at the moment, but we will see with the upgrades."
Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko favours Piastri in McLaren's internal battle, while Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, speaking to Osterreich newspaper, reflected: "Before the season, I would have said Norris, with his experience and speed. But I still see them both as equal favourites for the world championship."
