There is an air of cautious optimism at McLaren going into the British Grand Prix this weekend. Certainly for the team’s home-grown driver Lando Norris the event is special and one he admits has always meant the most to him ever since he was a child haunting the gates in the hope of glimpsing a driver. That he himself is now the inspiration for another generation is something the 23-year-old still finds somewhat hard to really take on board.
“When I was a kid I dreamed of winning my home race,” he says. “Even now when you see Lewis [Hamilton] win there it looks like the coolest thing on Earth. Seeing that crowd … Winning in front of those fans is by far the thing I want to do the most.”
The brutal reality of this season, however, means a victory at Silverstone remains unlikely for the McLaren driver. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen is strong favourite, such is his form and the pace advantage his team enjoys. Behind the Dutchman, Aston Martin, Mercedes and Ferrari are scrapping to be best of the rest. However, after a slow start to the season, their car far from where they wanted it to be aerodynamically, McLaren believe they can at least move up to lead the midfield.
Their first major tranche of upgrades paid off at the last round in Austria and more are expected at Silverstone. The team’s chief executive, Zak Brown, believes they are in position to beat Alpine, the fifth-placed team, and that they can show that form.
Norris, from Bristol, badly wants to demonstrate the progress McLaren are making at his home grand prix. In Austria he was on terrific form, qualifying fourth, only 0.267 seconds from pole and in the race was feisty, finishing fourth after battling with his childhood hero Hamilton and benefiting when the seven-time champion took a time penalty.
Norris began competitive karting when he was seven and a year later was transfixed by F1 in Hamilton’s debut season of 2007. His first attraction, however, was to the cars and specifically the McLaren of the time, then running in its silver and red livery.
“That was the year I really got into Formula One,” he recalls. “Watching Lewis and Fernando, them being teammates but also hating each other. But first it was the look of the car, the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes. After that I started to support Lewis, but it was car first and then driver, not driver then car.”
That he will boast huge support at Silverstone is clear. Personable and approachable, he is particularly popular and speaks to the new younger generation of F1 fans. Last year the Norris merchandise sold out well before race day. As a child infatuated with the sport, he feels a great affinity with all the fans but especially this new generation.
“For me the coolest thing is always seeing the kids, that I can relate to the most,” he says. “I remember being there with my dad. We waited just outside the gates, the world of F1 was so big and I was tiny. I didn’t even know what the gates were, we were waiting for Jenson Button to come out.
“I can relate to being a kid and seeing someone – me, Lewis or George [Russell] or any other driver. Seeing them and thinking: ‘Wow, I want to be like that one day’. It is weird that they think that of me, it’s a bit surreal but I can relate to that and I want to give back.”
Norris is now in his fifth season in F1 and has been honest in his disappointment with McLaren not being more competitive from the off this year. He has taken six podiums and a pole position since his debut in 2019 and should have had a win at the Russian Grand Prix in 2021 only for late rain to scupper what had been a commanding drive. This year, however, the fourth at the Red Bull Ring was his best result of the season after a frustrating opening.
His McLaren will race with a one-off chrome livery at Silverstone after a deal with Google that mirrors the car that first caught Norris’s eye when he was a child. He hopes at the British GP the new paint job will mark a turning point in the season for the car. There is nowhere he would like to do it more than at Silverstone, urged on by the crowd he wants to please the most.
“Even while driving you do glance at people in the stands,” he says. “You see people stand up, or you see them cheering or waving a flag and it makes you smile, it makes me happy. You feel a responsibility to go out and do the best you can for them.”
