Lando Norris recently opened up on what hooked him into F1 when he sat with Olympian Tom Daley. The British driver, who is a star now for McLaren, revealed that it was the intense battle between Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso that made him get into F1.
Norris said, “When I first ever watched Formula 1, it was when Fernando and Lewis were here in McLaren. Although they were the teammates, they were the biggest rivals of each other and that’s what got me into it.”
Admittedly, the 2007 F1 season saw Hamilton’s arrival in the big stage. Hamilton, a rookie, went toe to toe with two-time defending world champion Fernando Alonso for the world title.
The duo raced each other hard and it was a memorable season for fans of the sport. The tremors of their rivalry which they developed that season are felt to this day. Today, however, Norris is the undisputed leader at McLaren, and is widely expected to put up a championship fight, if provided with the right car.
McLaren needs enormous work if they have to push Lando Norris to the top
Back in Hamilton and Alonso’s era, McLaren used to be a top team. They haven’t won a race in the last couple of years or any championship for over a decade.
Despite making impressive progress in the latter half of the 2023 season, Zak Brown’s team finished the season in P4. Therefore, they need to take care of Ferrari, Mercedes, and most importantly Red Bull if they want to be the title contender with Norris in the future.
Given how strong Red Bull is, it will not be easy for Brown’s team to close the gap. The McLaren challengers still need to increase their race pace and DRS advantage to get close to Max Verstappen and his team.
McLaren wants to be a top team again. This could be the only way they end up keeping Norris at the team, amid reports of Red Bull being interested in his services. Notably, Lando Norris declined interest from the Austrian team to show faith in his team.
