Lando Norris said no to dad's millions
Like most other Formula 1 drivers, Lando Norris started racing in go-karts as a kid. He was only seven years old when he competed in his first race. Moreover, he started in pole position. Since then, he has followed the established path and methodically climbed through the various classes until he found his rightful place as a McLaren driver in the king of motorsport: Formula 1.
He was born in Bristol on November 13, 1999. And he has probably never felt a lack of money when he needed new equipment or go-karts. His father, being one of England's richest, could afford whatever it cost. And even though he funded his son's entry into the Formula 2 series, Lando Norris said no when he was on the verge of entering the Formula 1 series.
“I would never want him to pay for me to get into Formula 1,” Lando Norris told the High Performance Podcast. “He could support me until Formula 1, or let's say until Formula 2, to get to that point, give me the opportunities, and so on.”
“But personally, I feel that I wouldn’t want to get into Formula 1 by having to pay for it. It’s a mentality thing. Either you have it or you don’t. I’m not here because I paid for it. I’m here because I’ve earned it.”
“I’m much prouder to say that I’m here because McLaren saw my potential and brought me to the team as a junior driver. They took me further, I got better, and then suddenly I was the official McLaren driver. That makes me much happier to say than the opposite.”
It was in February 2017 that Lando Norris signed with the McLaren team. As a junior driver, he was being trained in the noble art of controlling a Formula 1 racer’s horsepower. And in a test later that year, he achieved the second-fastest time at the Hungaroring circuit in Mogyoród, 20 kilometers northeast of Hungary’s capital, Budapest. This was enough for him to be promoted to reserve driver the following season. The team’s principal, Zak Brown, noted that Lando Norris's future prospects were simply fantastic.
Mixing it up at the top
At just 20 years old, Lando Norris entered the Formula 1 field as one of the most talented drivers. He scored his first points in only his second race at the Bahrain Grand Prix, finishing in sixth place. However, it was also a season marked by several off-track excursions and actual accidents, such as when his brakes caught fire during the Canadian Grand Prix. Nevertheless, the Formula 1 rookie managed to finish the season in 11th place overall. Quite impressive.
Since then, he has steadily climbed up the ranks. Last season, he finished in sixth place overall.
Although there has been no doubt about his talent, he has still somewhat lived in the shadow of Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, who have won almost everything in sight over the past five to six years.
But something suggests that Lando Norris may mix it up at the very top in the 2024 season. After 110 races in McLaren's orange Formula 1 racer, he crossed the finish line first at the Miami Grand Prix in early May. Additionally, he has secured a third place and two second places, most recently at the Canadian Grand Prix just before the summer break. This meant that before the Spanish Grand Prix on June 23, he was in third place overall.
At the start of his Formula 1 career, he moved to Woking, just southwest of London. But his success on race tracks around the world has truly made him independent of his father's fortune. So, it’s not surprising that he now resides—like many other sports stars—in Monaco.
