Lando Norris’s status as the boy band-style darling of Silverstone is clear all over the track’s vast sodden swathes. ‘Go Lando!’ banners festoon the grandstands and groupies of the Netflix era hang out by the turnstiles for a glimpse of the McLaren man.
With apologies to his fellow countrymen, the Somerset-born racer would be the most popular winner of Sunday’s British Grand Prix. So pressure and attention walk hand in hand.
Yet behind the glitzy exterior, and financial security for life at the age of 24, Norris would rather stay at home than come face-to-face with off-track fame. He cites an innate shyness.
‘Privacy is one of the biggest things, not being able to go unnoticed, to do things where people aren’t watching,’ says Norris, who is second in the championship, 81 points off Max Verstappen.
‘When I go out to dinner or a club, I am still happy doing things that normal people do, but when I wake up in the morning I see videos of whatever. People assume that because someone has come to ask for a picture, I am with another girl.’
Lando Norris (pictured) would be a very popular winner at this weekend’s British Grand Prix
But behind his glitzy exterior, the 24-year-old is a shy character who would rather stay at home than encounter fame off the track
Norris suffered a facial injury while partying on a boat in Amsterdam earlier this year
Much has changed in the life of this self-confessed one-time hermit. With a salary north of £20million, he now lives in Monaco, whereas his rookie self stayed in a flat near McLaren’s Woking factory. And when he cut his nose earlier in the season during a night out in Amsterdam, pictures of his bandaged face lit up social media. His boss and mentor Zak Brown had a quiet word in his ear, not to proscribe his freedom but to remind him that he is always in the public eye.
Claiming his maiden win in Miami at the beginning of May added another dimension to his renown. As have his sterling performances in a McLaren good enough to compete on a par with Red Bull’s Verstappen. The pair crashed last week in Austria vying for the lead. Again, his celebrity rose a notch.
‘It’s annoying everyone has these perceptions which are not correct and start assuming or creating things, says Norris of his private life. ‘Then I wonder if it is even worth going out now. I just want to stay at home.
‘I stay in more and more, which I don’t want to do because I want to go out with my friends and have fun.
‘I don’t want this to come over in a bad way as if I am complaining about my lot. But I don’t want needless stress. Everything I do already is stressful enough. I still have to perform and do my job every day. As soon as I have one bad day, I get criticised to hell – as soon as I make one mistake, do this wrong, say this wrong.
Norris’ (left) boss and mentor, Zak Brown (right), had a quiet word in the F1 driver’s ear after he suffered the injury to his nose
The F1 driver grew up in Glastonbury, stating ‘I wasn’t around a city or a town. I was a loner. I was happy to go and play on my sim all day. I chose that route.’
Norris, meanwhile, has largely stayed quiet about his relationship status, but was spotted with Margarida Corceiro (left) at the Monte-Carlo Masters final in April
Rumours have grown over a possible relationship between the pair, after they have been pictured together on several occasions
The British driver has previously admitted he has ‘many girlfriends’ while being hooked up to a lie detector
Corceiro (pictured) was believed to be in attendance at the Miami Grand Prix where Norris was victorious
But claiming his maiden win in Miami at the beginning of May added another dimension to his renown
‘I have to be perfect. It’s not just what you say, what you’re doing, but what you’re seen to be doing.’
For all he bemoans parts of his life, one wonders whether his stardom suggests he might get carried away, that his head may outgrow his crash helmet.
‘That’s what I have my friends for and the people around me. I’m very happy when they tell me I’m being an absolute knob,’ he reveals.
Do they say that often?
‘Yeah, all the time! No, I can’t say that! They give me a sense of normality, the tranquillity of life.
‘It has been quite a lonely existence. That’s because I grew up in the middle of nowhere, Glastonbury. I wasn’t around a city or a town. I was a loner. I was happy to go and play on my sim all day. I chose that route.
‘You don’t stay in a team for more than a year as you grow up, so you never have time to build much of a connection with anyone. In F1 you don’t know who to trust. It’s a very different lifestyle. You sacrifice a lot of things to be in this position, which I wouldn’t change.’
He can forget any sense of calm this weekend as he hopes to build on briefly holding the lead at Silverstone a year ago. His routine is set. He stays at the new circuit hotel on the Hamilton Straight. He could walk over the bridge to the paddock.
But he instead drives the long route round to soak up the atmosphere. Orange hats, orange shirts, and, on Saturday, orange raincoats, are for him not for Holland’s world champion, Verstappen.
Much has changed in the life of a this self-confessed one-time hermit, who now lives in Monaco
But the F1 star can forget any sense of calm this weekend, ahead of Sunday’s British Grand Prix
Norris (left) tends to take his time soaking up the atmosphere around Silverstone on race weekend
But Norris also spoke of his ambitions to win the British Grand Prix before adding he appreciates the support
Humbly, he admits he finds it ‘odd’ people support him for ‘driving a car quickly’, adding that he’s just a ‘normal person’
Norris says he never dreams, and so the prospect of winning his home grand prix has never run through his sleeping head. But it ambushes his consciousness right now.
‘I want to do it here more than any other place,’ he admits. ‘I want to make sure it goes perfectly well. And I do appreciate the support I get.
‘I simply find it odd that I just drive a car quickly and people support me, a normal person.’
So spoke a half-bashful hero.
