Lando Norris has been a part of the F1 paddock since 2019, so it is easy to forget how young he really is sometimes. Norris turned 25 on Wednesday, and his celebrations involved teammate Oscar Piastri taking a dig at his age.
Piastri, who will turn 24 on April 6 next year, posted a TikTok video, where he said, “Lando Norris! 25th birthday. Happy birthday, you are definitely still older than me. But yeah, quarter of a century. Happy birthday, enjoy it“.
“Cheers ears,” Norris replied, which is a slang word for ‘thank you’ in Piastri’s home country Australia.
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Piastri and Norris have been teammates since the start of 2023 after the Melbourne-born driver replaced Daniel Ricciardo—also an Aussie—at McLaren. Since then, they have developed a fairly good relationship, often leading to off-track banter as was visible on Piastri’s birthday message for Norris.
Norris is currently in his sixth season with McLaren. Before the start of the campaign, rival teams like Red Bull were reportedly interested in him, but he chose to remain loyal to the Woking-based squad, signing a contract extension. It paid off, as he got a chance to mount a title challenge this season, although it ultimately proved to be a futile attempt.
Despite Norris giving his all, a 62-point deficit to Championship leader Max Verstappen with just three races remaining seemed almost impossible to overcome. Nevertheless, McLaren’s pace and Norris’ three wins this year will surely give him confidence heading into the upcoming season.
Who knows? By the time he turns 26, he may have a much better chance of securing his first-ever title.
