Western Daily Press (Saturday)
West fans’ delight as Lando wows in F1 debut
HE may now be on a £400,000-aseason Formula One contract, be driving around in a swanky £150,000 company car and be the new shoulders on which the future of British motor racing rests.
And, following a “better-than expected” start to his F1 career this season, you might expect the early success to have gone to Lando Norris’s young but quickly maturing head.
Not so. The 19-year-old who learnt his trade driving a £200 go-kart round Clay Pigeon race track near Dorchester appears to have his feet firmly down on the track.
And he is aware, even fully appreciative, of the growing support for him from across the West Country region – from where he grew up, in Chew Magna and Glastonbury, his old school, Millfield School in Street, and his old racing colleagues.
Speaking to the Western Daily Press after his seventh-place finish at the Singapore Grand Prix, he said: “[My message to them is] big thanks for all the support – all the messages I get, it’s always nice to see.”
He added: “From the West Country a lot of people say, ‘I’m from where you grew up and used to live’ and so on. It is cool because they have more of a connection to what I did growing up.
“Sometimes they just support me because of where I’m from. It is nice to have them as friends.”
It has been an astonishing journey for the teenager, who has gone from riding a quad around his parents’ back garden to 12th in the F1 drivers’ standings with six races to go.
Racing in his debut season for McLaren, Lando has said he is very happy with his achievements so far. He picks out a sixth-place finish in Bahrain as one of his two favourite moments.
The other was his first week in F1 when he raced in Australia, describing it as “super-exciting”.
He said: “On the whole, it has been very good.
“I think we have had a lot of strong results – better results than I thought I would get, I’m sure better results than the team thought they would after the end of last season and how the team were in terms of the pace of the car and everything.
“There have been a lot of good things and things to improve on, but on the whole we achieved some good things and there is a lot more to come and so I’m very happy with how everything has gone.”
The drivers’ standings sees him on the same points as veteran Kimi Räikkönen and just behind Daniel Ricciardo, another well-established driver.
Meanwhile, his more experienced teammate, Carlos Sainz, is positioned seventh.
Lando said: “I think Carlos is position seven and I’m further behind, but only because of some of these problems we have had.
“Where I am now, I’m two points behind Daniel, same points as Kimi – still big names, people I have looked up to and you respect as drivers so to be the same points as them with McLaren or with whoever it is all pretty cool.”
Lando next races in the Russian Grand Prix, at Sochi Authodrom, this weekend. He will be watched by his father, Adam, who has been able to support his son through the millions he made in financial services.
Speaking at the start of the season, Adam said: “This story is something special.”