“I Can Barely Compete With Him”: Lando Norris Reveals Lewis Hamilton Was His F1 Hero Growing Up

Every sportsperson, before making their mark in any game, idolizes a particular sports legend. And so does McLaren’s Lando Norris.

Norris is arguably one of the best drivers in Formula One this season. The young Brit is the only driver to score points in every race weekend this season and, so far this season, has out-qualified his much more experienced teammate Daniel Ricciardo.

Meanwhile, during an interview, Lando Norris revealed the seven-time world champion, Lewis Hamilton, as his idol growing up, and the young Brit always looking up to his fellow compatriot.

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What did Lando Norris say?

As quoted by NOS, when asked who was or is his greatest idol in the sport, Norris was quick to name the seven-time world champion.

“I was a McLaren fan as a child and could choose: Hamilton or his teammate Fernando Alonso. But then Hamilton was my compatriot, so that choice was easy. I was just nine when Lewis took his first world title. He is fifteen years older and I always looked up to him,” said Lando Norris (Translated via Google Translate)

“As I climbed up towards F1, my respect for his performance grew. It’s really cool to race against Lewis now, although of course, I can barely compete with him,” added the 22-year-old.

Andreas Seidl believes Norris can finish P3 in the driver’s championship

Nine-year-old Lando would surely be proud of the driver Norris is now. Not only did he manage to compete in the sport as the same time as his idol, but he is competing directly with his idol.

Norris has been a regular presence at the front of the grid this season, if not on the podium. In fact, he has even finished ahead of Hamilton – at the Monaco Grand Prix, for instance.

And Norris’ team boss, McLaren team principal, Andreas Seidl, is confident he can finish third in the drivers’ championship this year.

“Whether it is a realistic target is difficult to say, because the Red Bull car and the Mercedes car is really a better car,” said the McLaren team principal.

“It is down to the strong performances by Lando together with the team and the competitive car we have this year and we managed after 10 races to be P3. So it is not unrealistic to stay there if he can put up this half of the season again like this,” Seidl said.

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Can Lando Norris display yet another solid performance at Hungarian Grand Prix to maintain his third position in the drivers’ championship? Let us know in the comments section below.