The man who interrupted Max Verstappen’s dominance is a boy born in Bristol 26 years ago, raised with the myth of speed and an idol made in Italy. Lando Norris is the new lord of Formula 1: in a season decided on the last corner of the Abu Dhabi GP, the Briton cries with “crazy joy”, he who, when he got into a kart at the age of 7, understood that this was his path. His hero, Norris himself has always admitted – however belongs to the world of two wheels and is Valentino Rossi. «It made me become the man I am» the words of the English driver at the beginning of his career. And then the Doctor met him in person, in 2029 at the Silverstone GP. Norris had recounted that meeting full of emotions: “Vale has always been my idol, since I was little, I’ve been following him since I was 6 years old.”
And he also tried to emulate him, trying his hand on two wheels before doubling down. Speed and driving at the limit then became his trademark, Norris proved to be a talent on the flying lap, but it is with consistency in results that this year he brought McLaren back to winning the drivers’ title. With an annual salary of around 20 million euros, Norris (who in any case already had a rich family background) is the No. 1 in single-seaters: his father Adam, an entrepreneur in the pension sector, and his mother Cisca, of Belgian origin, are behind his rise, supporting the career of his pilot son. And then Margarida Corceiro, the Portuguese model and actress engaged to the British champion who never failed to make her presence known until the final triumph. Lady Norris is always at the champion’s side, between glances in the paddock and fairytale holidays. The second love is with McLaren: with the journey that began in the youth team, then reserve driver until the leap to the starting line-up in 2019. And in any case sport remains a great passion: a Bristol City fan, Norris, as a child, before arriving at karts – a natural precursor to single-seaters – tried his hand at horse riding without too much success, then quads and motorbikes. In the end the spark struck on the track: in 2017 he won the European Formula 3, in 2018 he was beaten by George Russell on his debut in Formula 2, and the following year he jumped into the Circus with McLaren which thanks to him returned to conquer a world championship that had been missing since 2008, a feat achieved then by another Briton, Lewis Hamilton.
Away from the circuits, Norris plays golf, but admits that his colleague Carlos Sainz is the best, he is involved in solidarity activities (he also did it during Covid with donations for the WHO), he cut his salary to support the cause of the team’s workers, and speaking of more private things, he also revealed his fragility, openly saying that he had been touched by depression. “I suffered because of social media” said the pilot (over 11 million followers on Instagram) who in fact spoke out personally against the hatred that spreads on the web. Now for Norris there is only the celebration, a dream fulfilled, the tears of joy that close “an incredible season”.