“He’s the Guy to Beat Max”: Lando Norris’ Father Recalls His Childhood Exploits to Launch a Warning Shot at Defending Champ Verstappen

A lot of people think Lando Norris is a pay driver, that he made his way into Formula 1 courtesy of the financial backing of his father, Adam Norris, who has a $250 million fortune. But that isn’t the case. While he did have the cushion of his family’s wealth, he made his way into Formula 1 on merit, proving his talent along the way. And his father isn’t the only one who knows it. But he’s one of the first people to voice that he believes Lando has what it takes to achieve what seems impossible at the moment—beating Max Verstappen.

Lando and Max have known each other since their karting days when Norris was racing in the junior series and Verstappen—who Lando idolized—was dominating the seniors. And now, they’re both fierce competitors on the F1 grid, Verstappen in Red Bull and Norris in McLaren. While it would’ve sounded absurd thinking about the two competing against each other in races at the start of this season, it won’t anymore. After McLaren’s recent upgrades, it’s made tremendous progress in the past few weeks to close the gap to Red Bull, and the British GP saw a face-off between Max and Lando.

Lando Norris’ father knows his son’s worth

Although Red Bull proved superior at Silverstone, Lando’s performance throughout the weekend highlighted his talent, and according to his father, it was reminiscent of his younger days. After Lando’s second-place finish at the British GP, Adam Norris was featured on the F1 Nation podcast and talked about Lando’s career starting out. 

He mentioned that it took 15 years of hard work for Lando and his team of supporters to get into F1. As a follow-up to his statement, Tom Clarkson, the host of F1 Nation, asked Adam when they thought F1 became a realistic goal for Lando. He replied, “I actually thought, genuinely, I was 50-50 whether he would ever get into Formula 1 the day he signed his contract, which was back in Monza. And it’s that difficult to get it, and things go the wrong way. So I really didn’t know.”

But his son’s talent made him believe he had what it took to become one of the 20 drivers on the grid. Adam continued, “He showed signs of promise when he was really young. He was always fast, he was ridiculously fast. So he’ll be able to take it to Max. I think he’s the guy to beat Max. I genuinely do.”

Considering all the achievements from his junior career, he has to back those claims up, as well as how he challenged Verstappen at Silverstone, pointing to the fact that Lando can take the fight to Max if given the right machinery. And Max knows Lando for the talented driver he is.

Read More: Despite Losing the Lead to Max Verstappen, Lando Norris Gets a Special Shoutout From Dad for One Special Trait That Took Him to the Podium

Max Verstappen is aware of Lando Norris’ threat

Max and Lando have always respected each other as competitors and give each other the credit they deserve, which is part of the reason they’re such good friends. And because they know each other so well, Max is aware of the threat Norris could potentially be if he has the car to do it.

He appreciated Lando by saying so himself after qualifying at the Spanish GP. With Max on pole, the Brit qualified in P3 without his upgraded MCL60. In the post-qualifying interview, while discussing who he expected to be in the top three, he said, “I just didn’t expect Lando to be there, but that’s a good surprise. Well, no, sorry. I didn’t expect McLaren to be there. I always expect Lando to be high up.” Now that Lando has an upgraded McLaren capable of fighting Red Bull, at least during qualifying, Verstappen will have to bring his A-game during every qualifying session.

Could we potentially witness a title fight between Lando Norris and Max Verstappen in the future?

WATCH THIS STORY | How Lando Norris Had a Chance to Go to Red Bull But Instead Chose McLaren