Lando Norris is undoubtedly one of the most sought-after drivers in Formula 1 right now. However, things were not so bright and glamorous for Norris once upon a time. He had an apprenticeship with McLaren. In one video that resurfaced lately, F1 journalist Will Buxton showed how the star driver was once “making tea and sweeping the floor.”
As F1 moves to Brazil for the 20th round of this season, the video from 2018 resurfaced with Buxton describing how Norris played small roles within the team. This was even after Norris was already announced as a McLaren driver for the 2019 season.
in honor of the brazilian gp, here’s 2018 lando on a ladder doing his apprenticeship work including “making the tea & sweeping the garage floor” pic.twitter.com/eebzZLpEQk
— Ray 🏎️ (@ln4norris) October 30, 2023
Talking about the British driver, Buxton said, as per the video on X, formerly Twitter, “Lando has been doing his apprenticeship in the team and genuinely has been doing his apprenticeship.”
He added, “He’s been doing his job as all the boys have to do, so he’s been making the team and sweeping the garage floor and he’s been doing the work at the factory and on [an] event which is not actually racing.” As the video dates back to Brazil five years ago, it is astonishing to see how far Norris has come.
The rise of Lando Norris in McLaren and F1
Lando Norris, the multi-million dollar driver stepped into the world of F1 in 2017 when Brown announced him as their junior driver in 2017. He was regarded as a fabulous prospect and the team gave him a chance to test driver their car mid-season that year.
The young driver set the second-fastest lap on the second day of testing at Hungaroring. This led the team investing in him and making him the reserve driver for the 2018 F1 season. The very next year, he entered the grid, driving for McLaren alongside now Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz.
P2. A nice little 100th GP gift ❤️ pic.twitter.com/iRfTg62e5l
— Lando Norris (@LandoNorris) October 23, 2023
From there on, the 23-year-old has not look back. He now has 101 race starts to his name and 12 podiums along with it. He collected a total of 597 points in the process. Unfortunately, Norris is still to claim a win despite being in F1 for five years.
As McLaren made a brilliant resurgence, there are chances that Lando Norris might just pick up a win in the near future. This is something Brown and the entire team believes in, as they are sure McLaren will produce a race-winning car very soon.
