Lando Norris feels ‘violated’ by paparazzi, claiming he cannot travel in London without being tracked by prying lenses.
Despite the close attention, the British driver insisted he has earned the ‘right’ to enjoy his year as Formula One world champion by going out with friends.
The 26-year-old broke his silence over his high-profile social life after footage emerged of him enjoying an evening at a Mayfair haunt with American influencer Alix Earle last week.
Video showed Norris at the entrance of The Twenty Two private members’ club following the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, where he finished fourth. Earle left the premises with a female friend before he followed on his own, hiding his face with his hands as he sprinted towards a waiting car. Social media witnesses suggested they both departed at about 4am.
Norris, who continues his reliability-hit title defence in Belgium this weekend, said: ‘Social media is one thing. Paparazzi waiting for you in places or tailing you is the next level.
‘I drove to my friend’s house, and I knew a paparazzo was following me the whole way, for 40 minutes through London, waiting to see who I was going to meet and where I was going.
Lando Norris has claimed he felt ‘violated’ by the paparazzi after the British Grand Prix
Norris was spotted leaving a private members’ club in London with influencer Alix Earle
‘That’s the first time I have felt a bit violated in my life – that I can’t leave my hotel or house without someone trying to see my every move. It feels as if I don’t have much of a private life.
‘Of course I miss that. I like peace and quiet and time to be on my own or with my friends. But it is just life now. It is part of being a Formula One driver, but there are boundaries, and I won’t accept people following me. It is just odd.
‘I am getting a bit older and I want to go out. That doesn’t mean go out and party. It just means getting out of the house.
‘Last year, I would just “game” and feel like a loser, being in my own home. That’s not a bad thing. I would keep myself to myself and be disciplined. But now instead of gaming until midnight, I go out with friends and have dinner – until midnight.’
Norris lives in Monaco but travels to Britain regularly, including to visit his McLaren team’s factory in Woking, Surrey.
He added: ‘It is good experiencing life outside the world of Formula One, which I have the right to do. But nothing has changed about the amount of preparation I do, and the number of days I spend on the simulator, and my focus on sleep. Jon (Malvern, performance coach) sees my WHOOP every night, so he knows when I am sleeping too late, and he will text me and have a go at me. My team are fully on it.’
Norris, who does not speak about his romantic life in public, was embraced by his on-off Portuguese girlfriend Magui Corceiro after he won the 2025 title in Abu Dhabi but partied with Earle in Cannes following the Monaco Grand Prix in June.
Norris lies 82 points behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli after retiring from two of the nine races to date and failing to start one with engine trouble. He is due to serve a 10-place grid penalty in Spa on Sunday after taking on a new battery.
He was second fastest in practice on Friday afternoon, two-tenths behind Mercedes’ Antonelli. Max Verstappen was third best for Red Bull and Lewis Hamilton fourth for Ferrari.
Antonelli’s team-mate and nearest challenger George Russell, 25 points back, was a concerning 1.285sec off the pace.
