Western Daily Press (Saturday)
FORMULA 1 BAPTISM LOOMS FOR LANDO
TWELVE years ago, in a sheep trailer with a dirty go-kart inside, motorcross helmets and wellies, Lando Norris arrived with his older brother Oli and father Adam at Clay Pigeon race track near Dorchester for a first taste of circuit racing.
It proved a false start as the trio were turned away, but they returned with a suitable go-kart bought for £200 and racing helmets, gloves and suits picked up second-hand for the paltry sum of £20.
If you don’t at first succeed, try again.
It is an ethos which has taken Lando all the way to the top; from tearing round his family back garden on a quad aged four to the starting grid of Formula 1’s season opener in Australia next week, aged just 19.
And it is why many are tipping the teenager to become a racing star.
Next Friday, Lando, who grew up overlooking Chew Magna lake and now lives in Glastonbury, will step into a McLaren F1 car at the Melbourne Grand Prix circuit for his first practice session ahead of Sunday’s opening race.
Yet like when he was announced as the Woking-based team’s new driver back in September, the young man is calm and relaxed, perhaps only experiencing the inner contentment at a childhood ambition achieved.
In an interview with the Western Daily Press, he said: “F1 is what I’ve been aiming for since I started karting.
“I’m feeling pretty relaxed looking ahead to the opening Grand Prix in Australia, but I’m sure I’ll have some nerves when I’m sitting on the grid moments before the start in Melbourne.
“There’s always pressure but you have to use it as a positive force. The only pressure I feel is to do my best for myself and the team.”
Having joined McLaren’s Young Driver Programme in 2017, Lando impressed as the team’s reserve and test driver and through his performance in Formula 2 last year, coming second to fellow Brit George Williams, who will also be at the starting grid in Melbourne, for Williams.
It is a long way away from the Clay Pigeon outdoor kart track at Wardon Hill near Dorchester where it all began.
Lando said: “I feel privileged to be in this position and I want to make the most of this amazing opportuni- ty. Ever since I joined McLaren I’ve felt at home. There’s been lots to learn.
“I’m focused on my own performance and working as part of the team.” And which race is he most looking forward to?
“All 21 of them,” he said. “I guess Silverstone will be massive with the home support for the team and I.”
At Melbourne next week, in the spectator stands will be Lando’s father Adam, mother Cisca and eldest brother Oliver.
Given the busy schedule, the family will only be able to meet for dinner once next week before the big race.
But that will take nothing away from what will be a tremendously proud moment for them, in particular Adam, who has invested both time and money into his son’s career.
So much so that he has decided to take a break from going to every race in the F1 season.
“Thirty five weekends a year for the previous ten years I have spent going to circuits; Lando has the right team around him and I deserve a break,” he joked.
It was Adam who bought the then four-year-old a quad, followed by a motorbike a year later and then a gokart two years later.
He would watch his young son ‘zoom’ around the family back garden in Bishop Sutton next to Chew Valley Lake.
“This story is something special,” said Adam, a millionaire director of an investment firm who features on the Bristol Rich List.
“Lando grew up loving Valentino Rossi and was riding a quad bike at four, a motorbike by five and then a go-kart aged seven; he would zoom around a field behind our house, he and his brother loved it.
“So I thought I’d take them to Clay Pigeon. I pulled up with go-karts in a sheep trailer thinking we could go around with them, using wellies and motocross helmets... and I had to go away and get some new secondhand kit.
“When they got on the track I noticed immediately how Lando could overtake unlike the other kids who were a lot older than him, he seemed able to think quicker than everyone else. It was natural to him, and everything went on from there on in.”
But even Adam, who has recently launched an electric scooter firm
There’s always pressure but you have to use it as a positive force. The only pressure I feel is to do my best for myself and the team
LANDO NORRIS
called Pure Scooter, admits: “It still didn’t really hit me how good he could be.”
On his eighth birthday, Lando, left, entered his first go-kart race and quickly made his name, coming 14th in his first karting championship, the Super 1 National Kart Championships, a year later.
The following year, in the same competition, he came third before stepping up into the junior category at the age of 12, which has drivers aged up to 17, and coming second.
In between his studies at Millfield School in Street, he won the WSK Euro Series in 2013 and then the Karting World Championship in 2014 before stepping up to cars.
In 2016 he took the Formula Renault 2.0 European Cup and the Eurocup Formula 2.0 title, then the following year he was champion at the first attempt in European Formula 3, the youngest driver to achieve that.
“I am so very proud,” said Adam. “He has worked so hard for a long time; back when he was a kid when all the kids went home at 6, 7pm, he would stay until 10 with his driving coach going through each corner, analysing the data and working out how he could get faster.” He added: “When he was 14, I thought he had a 20 per cent chance of making it to Formula 1, and then with each year the chances increased, but even a few years away, despite being super good, there was a chance he might not still make it like a lot of karting champions. But his work ethic, his talent has made this possible and I’m so happy for him.”
The teenager’s success, however, has not got him carried away.
Unlike other racing drivers who may embrace the luxury lifestyle attached, Lando’s feet remain firmly fixed to the ground. He describes himself as the ‘probably the main consumer of Weetabix in the world.’.
He is no party animal, preferring to spend more time in the gym in order to get in shape for racing.
Adam said: “The interviews, talks and photographs – it has been much to take, but he has taken it all very well.”
So what does Lando’s first coach think about the success?
“It brings a smile to my face,” said Rob Dodds, boss of BKC Racing, which was Lando’s first karting team.
“He is the full package, very quiet, very smart... something very special, what he has achieved has been amazing. I remember him for his hard work and willingness to race whatever the weather. I’ll be proudly watching next Sunday.”
When all the kids went home at 6, 7pm, he would stay until 10 with his driving coach going through each corner, analysing the data and working out how he could get faster ADAM NORRIS, LANDO’S DAD