Lando Norris is one of the most well-respected individuals in the McLaren camp. And this isn’t only because of his stellar qualifying performance on Saturday for the Japanese GP weekend, one in which he qualified third. In fact, most of the McLaren team members respect Norris because of the 24-year-old’s knack for going above and beyond to form strong relationships. His number two mechanic, Frazer Burchell, discussed the same in a recent interview with The Guardian.
Burchell said, “He only has to be polite to us but Lando always goes much further than that“. Burchell revealed that one of the huge favors that Norris provides his crew is using his fame and money to arrange tickets for festivals and shows.
Norris joined the McLaren team back in 2019 as a 19-year-old. Ever since then, he has been keen to establish himself and build the team around himself.
Hence, as Burchell explained, the Briton took those extra efforts to ensure he built solid interpersonal relationships with the members of his team. The #4 driver had also been instrumental in McLaren’s late resurgence last year.
And the momentum the team built during the second half of the 2023 season has seemingly carried on this year as well. With a solid job done in qualifying for this weekend, Norris now has set his sights on the main Grand Prix on Sunday.
Lando Norris expects McLaren to be pushing Red Bull at the Japanese GP
After the first three races of the season, McLaren find themselves third in the Constructors’ Championship. Norris registered his first podium of the season last time out during the Australian GP.
Now, with a second-row start for him at the Suzuka International Circuit, the Briton is hoping to keep this run of form going. On the other hand, Red Bull returned to the very front of the grid after their Australian GP mishap.
Max Verstappen grabbed the pole position for this weekend’s Japanese GP. Meanwhile, Sergio Perez ensured that Red Bull locked out the front row by slotting his RB20 just behind the Dutchman.
Norris, on the other hand, was almost three-tenths of a second off Verstappen’s pace during qualifying. That being said, the Briton is aiming to keep Red Bull in sight for the Grand Prix.
Formula1.com quoted him as saying, “We’re working hard and the hard work is paying off slowly, so we’ll keep pushing. But today is a good start to the weekend. Tomorrow is the main job.”
