Lando Norris has hit back at suggestions he has not managed to add to his Formula 1 victory in the Miami Grand Prix because he is too nice.
Likeable Norris, 24, has drawn attention after he missed out on potential wins in Canada, Austria and Britain.
One accusation has been that he has been too soft in his battles with Red Bull rival Max Verstappen, despite making contact with the world champion in Austria.
It stems from his reputation for having a playful sense of humour and being somewhat of a practical joker, a characteristic brought to life by the Drive to Survive series and his social media presence.
But when asked if his personality was actually holding him back in his quest for race victories, the McLaren driver said there was no correlation and added that he was not interested in hearing people say he is too soft.
He said: “I don't really care what people say. I’m a nice guy, and I try to be respectful in every way that I can. But that has absolutely zero relevance for what happens on track.
“As much as people want to just come up with their own thoughts and talk about these things, what happened 10 years ago and 15 and 20 years ago was completely different to now.
“So if I want, I can be a lot more of a d**k and act like an idiot and have that persona and make people think that, but I don't need to, I don't want to.
“I still want to make jokes and have fun and laugh and I don't care what people say. I'm just enjoying my life. Simple as that. But when I put my helmet on I don't care what people say. I'll do what I’ve got to do to win. It's quite simple.”
Despite being noticeably downbeat when victory has eluded him, Norris is adamant his confidence remains at an all-time high.
He added: “We've come off the back of a couple of tougher races and not ideal endings. But I think in terms of our confidence level as a team, it's probably higher than it's ever been. And not overly optimistic or overconfident in any way.
“We're doing so many things [in a] good [way]. We've been the best-performing team over the last two months, almost. We know we can only get better, because we've got things to work on. And we're working very hard on those things. So I feel good.
"Also, from a driving point of view, I probably feel the most on top of things as I have felt. It's still a long season and things can change. But from a team side, and from a personal side, I'm happy that things are going in the right direction.”
