Lando Norris is regular on Twitch and usually spends time chatting or gaming with his fans on his free days. While the 2023 season has just begun, the youngster has already considered his title favourite this season.
And it’s not the Red Bull duo of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, not Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Instead, the Briton has picked 41-year-old Fernando Alonso who enjoyed a career renaissance with his podium in the season opener.
VAMOS! 🏁
Alonso’s first season opener podium since 2013! 🤯
📹 x @F1 pic.twitter.com/fx4Sa0o7tu
— Autosport (@autosport) March 5, 2023
The Aston Martin secured P3 and his 99th career podium on his Aston Martin debut. And with the AMR23 looking promising of securing wins and podiums regularly, it seems like Norris has onboarded the Spaniard’s hype train.
Also Read: When Fernando Alonso and Charles Leclerc Nearly Became Teammates at Ferrari
Norris calls Fernando Alonso a title favourite
In a recent Twitch stream, Lando Norris unveiled to his fans his Helmet collection. The racer showed a few of his past helmets and also ones traded from other drivers like Carlos Sainz, Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso.
Picking up Alonso’s 2021 helmet, Lando boldly announced his name. And said, “He could be the World champion this year! Can you imagine that?”
Alonso exchanged the helmet with the McLaren driver during the 2021 season while he was at Alpine. He even penned a message to the youngster on the helmet reading, “You are a rock star! Best of luck for the future Lando!”
Lando Norris showing the Helmet of Fernand Alonso:
“He could be world champion this year”
How much things Lando know?
pic.twitter.com/8WtOGtl5D0— Aston Martin F1 updates (@startonpole) March 11, 2023
Funnily, the Briton was the 2-time World Champion’s understudy while he was at McLaren. And now the 41-year-old is being considered a dark horse in the 2023 title race.
Looking at Alonso’s pace in the pre-season testing and the season opener, it could very well be possible. The Aston Martin cars are flying this season, and have even beaten the likes of Mercedes, Alpine and McLaren
Lando Norris confident McLaren can solve reliability problems
Lando Norris could be the one of most talented drivers in the current grid. But the chances of him winning the title this year with the McLaren MCL60 are slim to none.
Especially after a dreadful start to the season like he endured in Bahrain. The Briton suffered an Engine pneumatic issue that caused him to pit to 6 times, finishing the race P17.
However, he sounded unbothered after the race. Norris reckoned the race was a “good pitstop practice” for the team. And McLaren can be back on track once the reliability issues are fixed.
#BahrainGP is one to forget. We’ll debrief as a team and then focus on round two in Saudi Arabia. Still a long way to go this season. 👊 pic.twitter.com/WFiIVho840
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) March 5, 2023
He said post-race, “We had too many issues to manage in the whole race. That’s why we had to keep coming into the pits every few laps or so. Otherwise, it was okay”
Meanwhile, debutant Oscar Piastri too endured a frustrating start. The Aussie’s debut ended in 13 laps due to an electronic issue. Overall, the Woking-based team scored zero points at the opening weekend and have a challenging season ahead.
Also Read: Former World Champion Claims Lando Norris and Max Verstappen Are Equally Good F1 Drivers
