F1 News: Lando Norris Opens Up On Lewis Hamilton Connection - "Very Inspiring"
Lando Norris made his way onto the grid in 2019 with the same team that launched Lewis Hamilton in 2007- Mclaren! Comparison between the two drivers then would come about quite naturally.
In 2019, Hamilton was leading the pack and was at the peak of his career winning 7 world titles in 2020. He became the first F1 driver in 2021 to cross the 100 pole positions achievement mark.
The same year, Lewis was heard praising Norris on the radio during a race in Austria. describing him as “such a great driver.” It was during the same season that Norris took on Hamilton for a victory in Russia but delayed rain played spoilsport for the 23-year-old racer.
After a long time though, Hamilton and Norris were reunited on the same track last weekend at the Austrian Grand Prix when Hamilton incurred multiple track penalties for crossing track limits.
Speaking to the media at the unveiling of McLaren's exclusive livery for the British Grand Prix, Norris said that the bond between him and Hamilton has become tighter in recent times. He gave an elaborate statement to the press. He also opened up about what he thinks Hamilton's current feeling is toward McLaren.
“I think it’s growing. I think even over the last couple of months we’ve been chatting a bit more and getting to know each other a bit more.
"I think it’s a pretty cool thing. I have so much respect for him and what he’s been able to achieve in Formula 1 and so (I have) a huge amount of respect for him now.
“I’m not always the guy who asks a lot of questions to these kinds of people to get to know what they’re like and know what they think. I’ll do it in a more subtle way and just try to understand how they think and their thought processes and just understand what makes them them, what makes them special.
"I’m not always the most proactive in going forward and asking or picking people’s brains and stuff like that, which I guess is maybe a better way of doing it, but that’s just not who I am at the end of the day."
“So I’m just happy to spend time with these people – and when I say ‘people’ I mean people who are at the top of whatever sport they’re in, people that I have a huge amount of respect for.
"It’s growing, I would say. I think it’s difficult when you’re in different teams, you just never (mix). I’m not the biggest talker either, so it’s not like I chat to any people or anyone really that much, probably only the team-mates that I’ve had and my current team-mates are the guys I speak to the most on the whole grid.
"It’s been very inspiring. He’s the guy that’s part of the reason I’m a Formula 1 driver today, or the reason I wanted to become a Formula 1 driver, so (it’s) weird thinking now I’m racing against him. I raced against him quite a bit last weekend, so it’s very cool."
"It’s an honour to be able to do it at the same time, but this is a relationship that’s growing and changing because where he is in his career and things like that.
"He says he still has a lot of respect for McLaren and I think he still has a lot of love for McLaren, I think he wants us to do well, which is still a nice thing because it’s where he started his career. Wherever you start your career, you owe them something in a way and McLaren gave me that opportunity so I want to do something for them.
"It’s growing, it’s good. Getting to know each other more, which is a cool thing.”