“I guess maybe not as often or as closely as we were”- Lando Norris explains how despite rivalry his friendship with Carlos Sainz remains

Samriddhi Jaiswal | 17/01/2022
"I guess maybe not as often or as closely as we were"- Lando Norris explains how despite rivalry his friendship with Carlos Sainz remains

Lando Norris revealed that he still remains friends with Carlos Sainz despite the increasing fierce on-track rivalry between the two.

Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris became a popular pairing from their time together as McLaren teammates in 2019 and 2020. Later on, Sainz moved to Ferrari becoming a rival driver for Norris and the McLaren in the 2021 season.

However, Norris explained that the rivalry has not affected their friendship but they continue to be fierce rivals when racing.

The Briton said, “We still speak to each other every now and then. I guess maybe not as often or as closely as we were in the past couple of years. But no, we’re still mates, we still got along.”

“As much as the rivalry’s probably increased, and he wants to beat me and I want to beat him, and [the] teams want to beat each other, we still just have a lot of respect for each other and who we are as drivers and so on.

“So I don’t think that takes anything away from who we are, no matter what team we’re in,” he further added.

Also Read: Lando Norris believes Carlos Sainz was underrated before going to Ferrari

Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz have a competitive relationship

Norris and his former McLaren teammate occasionally spend time together, off the track, particularly playing golf.

The 22-year-old said, “I guess we just don’t spend as much time together, but we still play golf and we still have that competitive side of us.”

Furthermore, Norris believes that no matter what kind of relationship you have off the track when you’re racing you have to be competitive.

“So we still get to play every now and then. But when we’re on track, I think no matter how good mates you are with anyone – on or off the track, or off the track – when you’re on track, you kind of forget about all of that and you just want to beat everyone no matter what colour car they’re in,” he further added.

Also Read: Lando Norris on why McLaren fell off in the latter half of the 2021 F1 season

Post Edited By: Samriddhi Jaiswal
carlos sainz ferrari Lando Norris McLaren

About the author

Samriddhi Jaiswal

Samriddhi Jaiswal is an F1 editor and writer at The SportsRush. She started her career as a business journalist but soon found her calling in lights out here we go! Samriddhi has been a Ferrari fan even when her interaction with F1 was occasional. Her first real experience with the thrilling sport came when Charles Leclerc clinched his iconic victory in Spa and Monza and painted the track red. Now, a Tifosi, Samriddhi is a hardcore fan of the prancing horse and can relate to the chaos within the Italian camp and also admires Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher. Off the track, she finds her home in books and musical instruments.

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