What if you were an F1 racer in a fan meet-and-greet? And when you look closely, you find your mother cheering on you from the middle of the crowd! If you think this entire scenario played out for Max Verstappen as the current Dutch GP is his home race, you’re wrong. It was Max’s closest Championship rival, Lando Norris, whose mother supported him ahead of the Main Race at the Zandvoort circuit. La Cisca Norris hails from Belgium and has been a common visitor around the Belgian GP paddock. She even made her way to the Netherlands on Day 2 of the race weekend.

Perhaps, mama Norris wanted to support her son as he started the McLaren media day for his Dutch fans with a meet-and-greet. When Lando came up on the stage, his mother did not look for any special treatment, bypassing the queue of fans or going backstage to meet him. Still, the cameras still recognized her, and soon, it became pretty clear that Lando Norris’ mother was trying to mingle with the common people in the crowd!

As the summer break is over and done with, Norris has returned to his F1 duties for McLaren. And the task ahead of him is perhaps the most important among the jobs of all of his other colleagues right now. He needs to grab the lead in the Championship race by outperforming Max. But before Lando Norris could get into the point chase after Verstappen, he got a little motivation for himself from his mother, who hugged him after his media appearance was over.

When Norris had won the Miami Grand Prix, his family was present. This time, at the Dutch GP, his mother will be by his side too. So, does Lando Norris think he can win it?

Lando Norris’ “optimistic” comments on McLaren’s performance in Zandvoort

When the F1 racers came out of their summer holidays mood and took to the first Free Practice session in Zandvoort, Lando Norris came before Max Verstappen in the rankings. Now, this weekend is the first one this season where both Verstappen’s team (Red Bull), as well as Norris’ team (McLaren), have bought upgrades. The Austrian outfit has been falling a bit behind McLaren and Mercedes in terms of performance ever since the upgrades did wonders for those two teams. Now, Red Bull will want to see improvements in its scores as well with the new upgrades in place.

But McLaren will have some new additions made to the MCL36s of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. The papaya army had last released a pack of upgrades in the Miami GP and we all know how wildly successful those were. Now, if McLaren succeeds at getting the better of Red Bull once again, the Constructors’ Championship lead will be theirs. Speaking on his winning chances in Zandvoort, Norris said, “We have been in good form since Miami but not brought any updates since Miami. This weekend is our first time trying to make a bit more progress with the car. [I’m] optimistic, but have no idea whether it’s working or not how it’s performing at the minute.”

But who amongst Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, do you think, will win the 2024 Championship title in the end? Share your take in the comments below.