Lando Norris has long carried with him the image of being the ‘funny guy’ in F1. Be it his partnership with Carlos Sainz or the time he spent alongside Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren, the British driver has always stolen the show with his humorous nature. However, with the arrival of a junior driver in Oscar Piastri, the 23-year-old has had to step up and take on the role of a senior driver and let up on his ‘silly side.’ Speaking to GPFans, team principal Zak Brown reveals what the relationship between the two is like when off the track.
With senior drivers Carlos Sainz and Daniel Ricciardo being his former teammates, Norris never wanted to wear the ‘big boy’ shoes in his team. However, with the addition of rookie Piastri, the McLaren driver now has much more responsibility on his shoulders than just getting the best out of his car.
Zak Brown details the off-track relationship between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri
While we have often seen the on-track synchronicity between the two McLaren drivers, the off-track relationship between the two has mostly been behind the curtains. Whenever the two have appeared together or talked about each other in an interview, they have always shown immense support for one another. Zak Brown tells us they have a very professional relationship when the cameras are not on them.
“It’s a different relationship than Carlos [Sainz] and Lando: they went out and golfed all the time. I would say the Lando-Oscar relationship is a little bit more all business. They’ve formed a great relationship though, and when they’ve raced each other hard already a couple of times this year they’ve both played ball.”
With Piastri in the driver lineup, Norris has a mirror image driving alongside him, as the two young drivers make up for McLaren’s plans for the foreseeable future. Given the drivers ages are just 22 and 23, both have a lot to offer to their team. With Piastri expected to match Norris in performances, both drivers are seen as potential future champions in a McLaren outfit that is improving consistently.
The Norris-Sainz bromance continues to grow strong
Even though they have been in different teams for a couple of seasons now, Norris and Sainz remain the best of friends. Their almost light up with joy when they see each other in the paddock. In a famous interview with Sky Sports 1, Norris swayed away from the mic and the interviewer when he saw Sainz riding along the paddock, just to wave at him and say “Hello.”
In 2018 3 September McLaren announced Lando Norris as they official F1 driver from the year of 2019 racing alongside Carlos Sainz Jr., and with that their friendship started what we still love #carlando pic.twitter.com/eOlXrYQhVO
— liv⁵⁵ ¹⁶ (@_formulaliv) May 10, 2023
Even Norris’ relationship with Ricciardo remains strong as Norris has publicly claimed he misses his ex teammate. The Briton will hope to share the same, if not better, relationship with his current teammate, with whom he has had no problems so far.
