Since Zak Brown has been at the helm, McLaren has secured three wins in the premier class. The first was monumental as it came after years of struggles in 2021. The second one came in 2024 which was Lando Norris’ first-ever win in the sport. Brown got himself inked to celebrate McLaren’s prodigal son’s win. However, Norris couldn’t do the same as he was prohibited.
To celebrate the special win, Brown got a similar tattoo as he did when Daniel Ricciardo won. Norris wanted to do something similar. However, as he revealed in a conversation on Capital FM, his trainer did not allow him to get a tattoo. The Briton said,
“I was meant to get some, not a Miami one. But I was going to get like a date of it or something. I was going to get some others like small personal ones. But I wasn’t allowed!”
Norris then elaborated and revealed his trainers and doctors barred him because it could affect his performance.
Of course McLaren boss Zak Brown had to get a new tattoo to commemorate Lando Norris’ Miami Grand Prix win.
(: @McLarenF1)pic.twitter.com/1eKZiEc4UP
— theScore (@theScore) June 7, 2024
So, the Brit has currently no permanent ink on his body commemorating his maiden win in Miami, unlike McLaren’s CEO. The reasoning behind his restriction is interesting. Many drivers from the previous generation like Lewis Hamilton have tattoos all over. However, none of the current crop of drivers do!
Perhaps a new study or the current understanding is that tattoos affect a driver’s performance. With F1 getting as technical as it has in recent years, it very well might be true.
The extra ink may also be adding weight because of which a driver could lose crucial milliseconds on the track. Regardless, while Norris was revealing the reason behind not getting a tattoo, the interviewer mocked him.
Norris gets ridiculed by the interviewer for his age
Despite currently participating in his sixth season in F1, Norris is still merely 24 years old. It’s sometimes easy to forget how old he is because of his F1 debut happening at the age of 19. However, the interviewer did not forget. So, while Norris was explaining how he was supposed to get a tattoo as well but wasn’t allowed, he poked fun at his age.
After Norris’ tattoo confession, he was interrupted by the interviewer who said, “Didn’t they think you’re old enough?”. This comment cracked everyone but he instantly apologized. Norris also took the comment sportingly and moved on revealing the performance-related concerns.
However, it was a casual conversation full of banter from the get-go. The conversation started with the question ‘Who’s most likely to get a terrible tattoo’ and Oscar Piastri instantly claimed it would be Norris. Perhaps, the Briton’s trainer was just saving him from making a terrible mistake.
