The current F1 season has been a very strong display of Lando Norris’ skills, with back-to-back podium wins. The British-Belgian racer even scored his first victory at the Miami Grand Prix about a month ago. However, just before traveling to Miami, Lando partied so hard in the Netherlands that he hurt his nose. Now, you must be wondering why the McLaren racer loves going out so much. Well, it might be because he was deprived of these pleasures growing up, considering his sole focus on getting into Formula 1.

When Lando was only 7, he discovered a love for racing after watching the British Karting Championship. Pursuing a career in motorsports, he even had to leave his school without completing the GCSEs. While all his efforts were concerted on making it into F1 in the future, Lando Norris could hardly attend classes at his school at a stretch. He always had to travel somewhere for his races, which made it hard for him to have friends, and his tough schedule with training and racing prevented him from going out partying too.

Now, as one of the 20 elite drivers taking part in the pinnacle of motorsports, Lando has indeed made it to Formula 1. On the other hand, he has lost out on many experiences a normal child his age could have gotten. Reflecting on this, the #4 racer told The Telegraph, “My whole life was racing. Whenever I was at school I was watching racing videos, and sitting on my own. Obviously, I did make some friends, but not best friends. At boarding school, people stay with their mates during holidays or weekends. But I never did any of that.”

At 24, Lando is currently running second in the World Drivers’ Championship. But reaching here has not been a cakewalk. Hence, he celebrates all his achievements with the wild parties that he never got to enjoy when he was younger. Speaking on it, the McLaren prodigy said, “I missed that growing-up period. I never went out. Never partied. And then by the time I was 18, I was almost in Formula 1.” As Lando Norris revealed the stories from his childhood, he also shared how isolated he was because of his race, opening up about his daily routines growing up.

Lando Norris repents never “integrating” with other kids his age

Lando Norris is not just a celebrated F1 racer but also a Twitch streamer with 1.6M followers. However, he never enjoyed this fame during his school days. Recollecting his time spent being a loner at school, Lando Norris said, “I just traveled to the races, came back, went to school, went home, got on the sim [racing simulator]…I wasn’t bullied or anything. I just never really integrated.”

Despite his past difficulties in making genuine connections, Lando is evidently close to Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz on the grid. He has also created a YouTube channel called Quadrant with his group of friends including F1 YouTuber Aarava. At present, McLaren is coming up to be one of the World Championship challengers this year, and Lando Norris’ competitiveness will surely make him more enemies on the tracks than friends.

Coming to his racing career, Lando has recently usurped Charles Leclerc from the #2 spot on the World Drivers’ Championship standings. As of now, he is the closest rival to the reigning F1 title holder Max Verstappen. But the gap between them is 69 points wide. Over the next few races, can Lando close this gap and give Verstappen a run for the top position on the grid? What do you think? Tell us in the comments below.