Norris shuts out social media as F1 battle heats up
IMOLA, Italy, May 16 (Reuters) - Lando Norris has turned away from the distraction of social media as the Formula One title battle with McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri heats up.
"I've not been on social media for a few weeks now," he told British media at Imola ahead of the seventh race of the 24-round season.
"It's just not something I enjoy. I don't need to. It's my life. I can do what I like," he added when asked whether it was a consequence of the circumstances.
The Briton won the season-opening race in Melbourne and stayed ahead until Piastri took over at the top in Jeddah last month.
The Australian extended his lead to 16 points in Miami on May 4 with his fourth win in six races and at Italy's old-style Imola circuit on Sunday could chalk up his fourth successive victory.
Norris, one of Formula One's most popular drivers, has a 9.9 million-strong following on Instagram and is known for being outspoken about mental issues and for making self-critical comments.
Reminded of how 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen -- a man famously unenamoured of social media -- used to say that in an ideal world he would throw his phone into a lake, Norris replied: "I'm probably the same."
"I enjoy not going on my phone as much as I used to.
"I still use my phone and I'm still texting my friends and all these things. I just see social media more, from my perspective, as a waste of my time and energy and I just don't need it," he said.
"I don't want it. I don't find it interesting.
"I just feel like I've got more time to do things that I want to do. I just want to spend time with my friends. I go and play golf and train and do things that are productive."
Sunday's Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix will be Lewis Hamilton's first in Italy for Ferrari and the seven times world champion made headlines earlier in the week when it was noticed he no longer followed anyone on Instagram.
With 39.5 million followers, Hamilton had never followed many accounts but is now not following Ferrari or teammate Charles Leclerc -- or even his Mission 44 foundation and pet bulldog Roscoe.
The Briton has made a similar clean slate previously, doing the same after losing out on an eighth title in the controversial 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix when at Mercedes.
"Lewis can do what he wants. Good for him," said Norris, whose Instagram feed has four posts from May with the most recent on the ninth.
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