Lando Norris is currently the best young driver in Formula 1, ranking fourth in the World Drivers’ Championship only after Lewis Hamilton (36), Max Verstappen (23) and Valtteri Bottas (31). In the world of builders, his points represent 63% of the performance of McLaren, who is third behind Mercedes and Red Bull.
This is why the British team has secured a 21-year-old player on a multi-year contract until 2023. McLaren is seeking to return to the leading role in Formula One after winning the Constructors ‘World Cup in 1998 and the last drivers’ championship in 2008., When Hamilton was Still with them.
Formula 1 compares the training that McLaren provided to Norris with that given by Hamilton: “It was a big investment, similar to what they did with Hamilton before he moved to Mercedes in 2013; the organization said in a statement that Norris gave them a great performance.
Inside McLaren, the opinion is similar. As the captain of the team, Andreas Seidel envisions a future similar to that of the seven-time world champion now: “It is impressive to see the development that Landau has shown in the past three years, to see what he achieves this year, if he continues to develop in this way. As a knight and as a person, I think. He has everything it takes to be, in a few years, a top-level contestant. “
Norris, born November 13, 1999, came to McLaren in 2017 as a development driver and was promoted to test the driver in just one year. In 2019, when he was under 20 years old, he made his debut in Formula 1 and finished 11th in the World Drivers’ Championship. Already in 2020 it finished in the top ten with nearly double the points of its first year: ninth place and 97 units (it had 49 in 2019).
In the current season, he remained fourth after four dates, as he already had the podium, being the only jockey outside the Hamilton-Verstappen-Bottas Trio to score a top three (third place in Imola). With this performance, the English teenager keeps McLaren ahead of Ferrari and Renault.
From 2017 until now, the British team has invested $ 4.57 million in Norris’ salaries, accompanied by Spaniard Carlos Sainz and now Australian Daniel Ricciardo. The McLaren team had not won the Grand Prix in eight years (their last position was November 2012).
Norris’ contract expired in November, so his team scrambled to sign him when it wasn’t even half the season over. “I know I’m not winning races right now and I’m not on the podium every weekend, but I’m very happy with my position and I don’t need to waste time talking to anyone else (other team).”
After the renovation, the pilot added, “Loyalty is a big part of me. As much as I want to win races and championships, the other important thing for me is to make sure I enjoy my place and get along with the people, with the mechanic and the engineers and everyone in the factory. Everything works very well. For the time being and I love him. “
Checo Pérez confirms that Red Bull does not pressure him
Before the fifth round of the season, which will take place this weekend in Monaco, Mexican Sergio Perez confirmed that his Red Bull team was not pressuring him to search for the podium.
“All the pressure is coming from myself. I want to get the maximum potential out of the car at the level the team works in. The team did not put any pressure on me, I know what kind of work I have to do, so they don’t have to tell me.” “.
Perez joined Red Bull this season after finishing fourth in the 2020 World Driver’s Championship, but after the first four dates he was unable to reach the podium, while his teammate Verstappen has not dropped from second place (he has already won one.).
The Mexican said that Monaco represents an opportunity to gain confidence and points: “If you can have this confidence in Monaco, you can have it anywhere else. It is a very important weekend for me in this sense to be able to build and achieve that confidence with the car,” Which I do not have now. “
Red Bull Racing consultant Helmut Marco confirmed his confidence in Checo ahead of this fifth Grand Prix, even boosting his performance over what Frenchman Pierre Gasly (now Alpha-Tauri driver) showed in the 2019 season.
“Sergio Perez is constantly improving. He doesn’t want to reinvent the car like Jasly did. On the contrary, he looks at Max (Verstappen), breaks his arms and finds out where he needs to improve. This world championship will also be decided by the drivers of the second team.”
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