“I’ve always been very hard on myself about the risk of being trapped in a negative little world.” The British Lando Norris claims an emotional openness that is rare in such a sport formula 1. A brutal sincerity that did not prevent him from winning his first championship title this Sunday aboard a fabulous McLaren and, above all, from showing the character that can withstand the final onslaught Max Verstappen in his desire to win his fifth consecutive title despite his poor performance Red Bull.
Some doubted his ability to become a champion, but at 26, Norris showed that despite a “difficult” start to the season, his Leo resilience could see him reach the top. “Being where I am today is largely due to my mentality,” he defended himself a few days after fulfilling his lifelong dream. “It’s incredible. It’s pretty surreal. I’ve dreamed about it for a long, long time, like everyone else,” he reflected. close to tears He barely got out of the car after finishing third in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and collecting the points he needed to chase away all the ghosts.
The McLaren man, who broke into motorsport’s elite in 2019 aged just 19, was one of those who brought the debate about athletes’ mental health onto the global media scene. Media pressure, search for perfection…. “I suffered a lot in 2019 and 2020” He told GQ magazine in 2023: “I just didn’t know how to handle the situation,” he admitted.
As in many other sports, Formula 1 drivers rarely show their weaknesses, but Norris decided to open up: “I kept everything to myself and that damaged my self-confidence, which reached its lowest point. I doubted myself: “Am I good enough to be in Formula 1?”“.
Norris was born in November 1999 in Bristol to a Belgian mother and an English father – billionaire investor Adam Norris, who was a very present in the paddock. Since childhood, Norris has pursued success, collecting titles in most of the lower categories of motorsport.
In 2013 he became European karting champion, and the following year he became the youngest world champion in this discipline, following in the footsteps of the legend Lewis Hamilton. His rise continued in 2015 with the capture of the British Formula 4 title and in 2016 he won the three championships in which he competes.
These successes caught the attention of McLaren, which integrated him into its young driver training program in 2017, the year he was already crowned Formula 3 champion, his fifth title in three years. A year later he came second behind his compatriot in the Formula 2 championship George Russelltoday the main driver for Mercedes.
Even then, his critics remembered that he had benefited from intensive training programs thanks to his father’s millions. “I never wanted him to pay for me to get into Formula 1.”he defended in a podcast last year. And he added: “I’m much prouder to say I’m here because McLaren recruited me.”
Finishing eleventh at the end of his first season in the elite, the young rider made progress and achieved his first podium of 2020, but victory eluded him. He was long nicknamed “Lando No-wins” and had to wait until 2024 in Miami to unlock his F1 wins tally. This year, three more successes followed, which earned him the honorary title of vice world champion.
Away from the race track, the fan of MotoGP and the Italian Valentino Rossi sometimes cultivates a certain form of arrogance. For example, he had harsh words for his Australian teammate Daniel Ricciardo when his departure from McLaren in 2022 was announced: “I don’t think you should feel sorry for a driver because he just didn’t do that well,” he explained.
Norris is very active on social media and a fan of car racing simulation video games. He belongs to this generation of 2.0 drivers. In 2020, he shaved his head live on his Twitch channel to raise funds for a Covid-19 solidarity fund.
However, this great golf and paddle tennis fan admitted last spring that he had distanced himself from social networks, which had become “a waste of time and energy”. An energy that he knew how to focus on his goal of becoming the new king of Formula 1.
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