George Russell once confirmed that current Williams driver Alex Albon, who he grew up with, used to be Lando Norris and his hero. On hearing the same, Albon hilariously claimed that he is still their hero.
This interaction between the three British drivers took place when a Sky Sports interviewer asked them about their karting days. In reply, Russell said, “I actually not sure we did kart against each other. Lando and I karted when we were… [Norris interrupts and says when he was a baby] when you were a baby”.
After stating the same, Russell added, “Lando and I looked up to Alex [Albon]. Alex was our hero“. Immediately after, Norris also agreed that Albon was indeed his hero.
Now I’m not saying you should vote me as Rookie of the Year. But you should vote me as Rookie of the Year https://t.co/kOutHcgBGn pic.twitter.com/OsZya5SwOm
— Lando Norris (@LandoNorris) December 11, 2019
Interestingly, all three drivers competed against each other for the F2 championship in 2018 and finished in the top three. Russell won the title with 287 points. He finished 68 points ahead of Norris and another seven ahead of Albon.
After the 2018 F2 season, all three drivers secured a seat in F1 in 2019. Albon received an offer from Toro Rosso (now Visa Cash App RB).
Meanwhile, Russell signed for Williams, and Norris got promoted from his development role at McLaren — the team he is still driving at. And when it comes to Norris, this was not the only time that he claimed that Albon was his hero.
Norris had Albon’s poster during his karting days
Norris, who was initially a MotoGP fan during his childhood, once gave an interesting reason for why he looked up to Albon and had a poster of the Thai driver in his room. The reason simply was that Albon was also a fan of legendary MotoGP driver Valentino Rossi.
“His [Albon’s] 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”, explained Norris.
While Norris looked up to Albon, both drivers have come a long way since their karting days. From one idolizing the other, the two along with Russell have now been rivals ever since their F2 days.
