LANDO NORRIS is fast-becoming the poster boy of F1.
The British-born driver, 23, was in the points at the Melbourne Grand Prix, and will be looking to add to his tally in the Drivers Championship in Azerbaijan this Sunday.
His talents, and boyish good looks, were recognised by fashion bible Vanity Fair, who had him front and centre of a glossy photoshoot with fellow drivers, Daniel Ricciardo, George Russell, Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon.
He was born in Bristol to wealthy dad Adam – who amassed a £205million fortune – and mum Cisca from Belgium.
His professional life seemingly knows no bounds, although his love life suffered a set back when it was announced he had split with stunning Luisinha Oliveira – a Portuguese model who accompanied him to the Brit Awards last year.
Idolised Valentino Rossi
Norris was raised in South-West England, attending school in Somerset.
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However, he left without sitting his GCSEs and later studied physics and maths with the help of a personal tutor.
His burning desire was to follow in the footsteps of Valentino Rossi, as he developed a love of motorsport.
But when his father took him to watch a round of the Super 1 National Kart Championships, he was hooked on four wheel racing.
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Like many F1 drivers, a sport for the rich and famous, Norris grew up affluently.
Dad Adam amassed a personal wealth of £205million after selling his successful pensions advising company.
Today, he continues to build on his success with his investment group, Horatio Investments Ltd and in 2016 was 18th in the Bristol Rich List.
Big break
Karting was the making of Norris. In 2013, he won the CIK-FIA Karting European Championship and the WSK Euro Series in the KFJ class, while, in 2014, he gained the most prestigious title, the CIK-FIA Karting World Championship in the main KF category.
With a natural flair for winning, he followed up that success in more powerful vehicles – landing the MSA Formula championship in 2015, and the Toyota Racing Series, Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup in 2016.
It made McLaren take note. He signed a junior driver contract in 2017, and could scarcely believe his achievement.
“I never knew (I could make it),” he told Autocar.
“Even in F2, I never went ‘I’ve got this, 100 per cent, I can do this’. You always have a bit of doubt. But the biggest thing was joining McLaren, and my first test in Hungary.”
He set the second fastest lap in the second day of testing at the Hungaroring.
Two years later, he would partner Carlos Sainz Jr as a McLaren driver in the World Championship.
Making his debut in the Australian Grand Prix, he would become Britain’s youngest ever F1 driver at 19 years, four months and four days old.
His debut campaign, finishing eleventh, was enough to convince McLaren Norris was their future.
Success story
It was in 2021 where Norris really kicked on.
At one point, it appeared he would challenge for the title after finishing fourth in the British Grand Prix.
It moved him into third place in the drivers’ championship.
Although he faded away in the remaining eight races, he did record four podium finishes in his first 14.
His highest position – second at the Italian Grand Prix secured the top two positions for McLaren with Daniel Ricciardo eventually winning the race.
Norris finished sixth in the drivers’ championship in the end, which convinced McLaren to offer him another deal.
Interestingly, only Max Verstappen has a longer contract in the sport at the moment – with Norris inking a four-year contract worth a staggering £80million.
But still, he lives frivolously.
Free ride
Astonishingly, for someone so wealthy Norris doesn’t actually own a car.
As is one of the perks of the job, McLaren has loaned him several over the years.
Speaking to Scott Mills and Chris Stark on their BBC Sounds podcast, however, he confessed his not materialistic.
Lando said: “I don’t own many things. I’ve not really treated myself.”
Famously, Norris lived modestly in Woking before moving in the winter to the millionaire’s playground Monte Carlo.
“It’s something that obviously a lot of drivers go to do, and especially with how racing is – I think you’ve seen it with a lot of the drivers, how quickly things can also go downhill,” he revealed.
“I still have to look after my life and things for my future so that’s why I had to make the decision.
“I went with my managers and my trainer and we had a little look around a few different apartments and stuff.
“I was like ‘I don’t want to be in the same place as Max!’. I don’t know where Lewis is? He’s on the opposite side… I don’t know anybody else over there.
“But I’m around that area in Fontvieille, which is a nice, quiet place.”
Model Ex
Norris cemented his status as F1’s rising star on the showbiz circuit – where he took the red carpet for the Brit Awards.
Later, he would join Jamie Winstone on stage to hand out an award to pop superstar Dua Lipa.
As he rubbed shoulders with music glitterati, alongside him stood his beautiful former girlfriend, Luisinha.
A month earlier, he confirmed his romance with the fashion model on social media during a trip to Dubai.
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Sharing a photo of them kissing in the desert, he captioned the post “my sunshine”.
Sadly, the pair called time on their romance at the tail-end of last year, and he is officially single. As F1’s most eligible bachelor, expect there to be plenty of takers.
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
