Lando Norris, underrated champion?
Known for his good humor, Lando Norris is also clearly overrated for some. However, the McLaren driver is following in the footsteps of his compatriot Lewis Hamilton.
Present in F1 since 2019 with the McLaren team, the young British driver shows two sides to the media.
Jovial and joking pilot, he amuses some and is not taken seriously by others. Arriving in F1 through the big door, that of evolution after resounding successes, Lando Norris has been under McLaren’s wing since 2016. Quick in qualifying, he remains regularly less incisive in race.
By signing his first podium in F1 at the Red Bull Ring in Austria during the first Grand Prix of 2020, the McLaren driver confirms his talent, even if a lack of consistency remains to be regretted.
So? Underrated or overrated pilot?
What if a journey back in time could provide some clarity?
Back to September 21, 2014, at Essay circuit in France.
Norris becomes that day, at only 14 years old, the youngest winner of the OK world title (then called KF). In doing so, he breaks the previous record of a certain Lewis Hamilton, achieved in his last year of karting before moving up to single-seater racing.
Norris is actually like many others, one of the very talented drivers who leave karting at a very young age for single-seaters.
His karting career had initially been local, with several victories in the United Kingdom in his childhood before successfully making a mark on the international karting scene.
As Norris pointed out in an interview published in 2019, karting was his whole life during those few years.
« Karting was all about driving and testing on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and then racing on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. That’s how it was for most weeks, at least twice a month in Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom. I travelled a lot… »
From then on, his career is typical of those destined for glory: two Formula Renault championships won in the same year in 2016, an F3 championship won in 2017, and a victory in his first F2 race in 2018 (he finished second in the championship behind his compatriot George Russell).
His debut in F1 takes place the following year, after a year as a test driver when he replaced the Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne. A true lover of racing and a competitor at heart, the McLaren driver spends a good part of his free time on Sim races.
Sharing his activity with fans on the Twitch platform, he will have participated with many other young drivers from the F1 grid in the Sim Racing championship organized during the Covid-19 break in 2020.
As mentioned recently in an interview with the BBC, racing simulators were fundamental when his love for racing was born: “Games definitely came first,” he says.
When the past is not everything?
The prestigious resumes of Stoffel Vandoorne or Pascal Werlein will not say otherwise, a rich past of titles in junior formulas does not necessarily rhyme with success in F1.
The magic formula of being in the right place at the right time is more relevant than ever in a field where money is king and where the saying “get rich or die tryin'” makes perfect sense.
Powered by Mercedes for this new season and with a sharpened chassis, there is no doubt that the McLarens will be formidable this year in the fight for the midfield and beyond.
Norris & Ricciardo: a “too” perfect duo?
Alongside Daniel Ricciardo, the experienced Australian, Norris will have a lot to do to confirm and thus maintain his place in a highly coveted seat.
While the Woking team is bringing together this year the two most cheerful and smiling drivers, some are predicting an inevitable clash, with tensions already felt during the live presentation of the single-seater.
Like Hamilton at the start of his career, Norris will have to prove himself on the track and use psychology to gain the upper hand in a mid-field that promises to be formidable.
So, what was Norris’ result this weekend?
Response with the first Grand Prix of the 2021 season in Bahrain, to be experienced of course on Motors Inside!
