Lando Norris grew up racing with Charles Leclerc, Alex Albon, and George Russell. However, Alex Albon had a greater impact on Norris than the other two. Their almost four-year age gap made the Thai driver the then-6-year-old Norris’ idol. He revealed his admiration for Albon in Sky Sports F1’s popular lie detector YouTube feature, and how he even put up a poster of his future friend and rival in his room.
“This was the time I was more of a Moto GP fan than Formula 1. So I was Valentino Rossi, like everything and he was number 46. So like straight I was like wow, he’s Valentino.”, Norris said.
“But then I also noticed his helmet was in the font of the doctor. So I could tell he was also a Rossi fan. As soon as I knew he was a Rossi fan I was like wow, he’s a cool guy. He was a guy I looked up to when I was starting,” he confessed.
So, the respect for the Williams man stemmed from their mutual admiration for Valentino Rossi. Perhaps Rossi has had a greater impact on Norris’ life. The lure towards the Moto GP legend’s style, his striking racing gear, celebrations, helmet, etc ignited the passion for racing in the young Brit.
The 24-year-old even drew inspiration from the Italian for his racing helmet when he first began racing. In short, it was Rossi’s aura that led to Lando Norris becoming the 114th Formula 1 Grand Prix winner.
The British driver met his hero during the British Motorcycle Grand Prix at Silverstone in 2019. The two met and became close enough to stay in touch. The seven-time Moto GP winner even sent Norris a congratulatory message after his Singapore GP podium.
Although this friendship is begging to be taken to the track, but their busy schedules are hampering those plans.
Lando Norris reveals how his and Valentino Rossi’s busy schedules aren’t letting them race each other
After Lando Norris met the Moto GP serial winner, the two kept in touch. They even plan to race each other despite Rossi retiring from the two-wheeled championship. This hope is kept alive as the 45-year-old switched to four wheels. Since 2022, Rossi has been part of the GT World Challenge Europe.
Rossi also confessed about wanting to race Norris, back in 2021. The Italian told Motorsport.com, “About racing together next year, for me it would be fantastic because Lando is so fast. I will race in cars and if I can do a race with Lando, for me it will be a great, great pleasure because it is very fast and we can enjoy for sure.”
The tribute helmets and bucket hats are the McLaren man’s way of showing appreciation. Whereas, Rossi is practicing racing with more wheels so he can challenge his young admirer. Now that Norris has won his maiden F1 race, it would be a great occasion for Rossi to have this one-off race with the Briton.
