Lando Norris, born November 13th 1999, is a British Formula One racing driver competing for McLaren. In 2017 he was signed as a junior driver with McLaren and later that year, after winning the European Formula 3 Championship, he became the official McLaren test and reserve driver for the 2018 season. In 2018 he finished second in the Formula 2 Championship behind George Russell and was promoted to a full-time race seat at McLaren for the 2019 season. When he made his Formula One debut at the Australian Grand Prix in 2019 he became Britain’s youngest ever F1 driver at 19 years, 4 months and 4 days old. In 2020 he tallied his first podium finish after chasing down Lewis Hamilton (who had a five-second time penalty) and closing the gap to 4.8 seconds on the last lap to claim third. After the race, Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren Racing gave Lando such a massive hug that it may have cracked a few ribs. At the Russian Grand Prix the following year, Norris qualified on pole position for the first time and led most of the race. It looked like it would be an easy win until it started to rain slightly with six laps to go. As the rain came down harder, Norris aquaplaned off the track on lap fifty-one of fifty-three, just missing out on that elusive first win.
Lando was born in Bristol, Great Britain to Adam and Cisca Norris and has an older brother, Oliver, and two younger sisters, Flo and Cisca (named after her mother). His father is reported to have retired as managing director of Pensions Direct at the age of 36 and amass an estimated 250-million-dollar personal fortune. Lando’s mother is originally from the Belgian province of Flanders so Lando has dual citizenship. As a child, Lando’s interest in horse-riding quickly turned into an interest in quads and motorcycles. His hero as a kid was the GOAT of MotoGP, Valentino Rossi, known as The Doctor. Lando’s father, however, took his two sons to the national British Karting Championships when Lando was 7 and the two brothers immediately knew what they wanted to do. Initially, Lando’s brother Oliver was faster, as he was older, but over the years Lando caught up to him, eventually winning the CIK-FIA World Championship at the age of 14 and becoming the youngest ever to win, a record previously held by Lewis Hamilton. Lando recalls that when he first started karting, George Russell was already somewhat of a local celebrity among the kids at the track and the man to beat, along with Alexander Albon.
Lando has been racing against George Russell and Alexander Albon since day one. They have all won the CIK-FIA World Championship. Alex was the first in 2010, George did it in 2012 and Lando did it in 2014. They each moved up to single seaters at different times, but in 2018 they found themselves competing against each other for the Formula 2 Championship with different teams. George won it, with Lando placing second and Alex a close third. The following year they all moved to full-time race seats in Formula One and are still fast friends, often being seen together sharing a laugh in the paddock. Lando says it’s very important for him to have that interaction with friends and that he struggled a bit during the Covid lockdowns in 2020. He has since taken up golf, which has become an obsession, but is also a good way to relax with his buddies when they have time off from their driving duties around the globe. Lando is not one of those drivers that lives, eats and breathes Formula One. He takes it seriously but he knows himself well enough now that he is sure to make time for family, friends and doing things he enjoys outside of racing. Ultimately, by living a more balanced life he feels that he is faster in the car. As one of the most popular drivers on the grid, Lando loves to interact with his fans through social media. He’s also one of the most highly paid drivers and has been with the same team since 2019. Here’s to Lando and McLaren taking another step forward towards winning world championships and restoring the team’s former glory.