“Similar to Gasly” – Former F1 Driver Believes Lando Norris Doesn’t Sit at the Same Table as Hamilton

Lando Norris, who was on the verge of winning the Grand Prix at Sochi last weekend, ended up in a distant P7 after committing a costly strategical blunder. Nevertheless, with the strong and commendable display in Russia, he has indeed earned the ‘future world champion’ tag.

There are praises pouring from all around the Formula 1 community, including former F1 driver, Marc Surer. The F1 expert revealed that he had been keeping an eye on Norris’ growth in F1, and now arrived at a conclusion that the Briton is quite similar to AlphaTauri driver, Pierre Gasly.

What did the former F1 driver say?

As reported by Motorsport Total, Surer opened up that Norris isn’t a high-flyer like Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, and Sebastian Vettel. However, he is convinced that this young rising star is learning rapidly and could soon join the elites.

“He is someone who learns – which is always something very important in Formula 1. That you not only trust in your talent but can also improve. Similar to Gasly he got better and better. That’s why I would put him at this level,” he said during an interview with Formule1.

“When you see Hamilton who comes to Alonso’s team as a newcomer and immediately hits his ears comes to Ferrari and assigns Vettel. They are high-flyers. I don’t include Norris. He has improved. He is learning. That means he makes something out of his talent. And in the long term, these are usually the better drivers.” (Translated via Google Translate)

Lando Norris was often better than Sainz: Surer

Surer, who has achieved a total of 88 GP starts in F1, reckoned that Norris has often overpowered his former teammate, Carlos Sainz‘s performances this season.

“Norris has made an enormous improvement this year. We must not forget, he is already three years in Formula 1. The first two years he wasn’t impressive,” he said.

“But now you can see how good Carlos Sainz is at Ferrari, and Norris was often better. That means you can see that he learned from someone who drove at a high level. We didn’t really know that beforehand. Now, this year, against Ricciardo, I have to say that he cuts a very good figure.”

Overall, Norris is still evolving as a racing driver. And with McLaren investing their future in Norris, it clearly suggests the level of trust the historic outfit has on the 21-year-old. Hence, amidst promising signs, can Norris and McLaren soon bring themselves up to the league of Red Bull and Mercedes and compete for the championship?

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