Lando Norris, a Formula 1 driver for McLaren, is still experiencing plenty of pinch-me moments … even six years into his F1 racing career.
While the 25-year-old British driver officially began his F1 career in 2019, it wasn’t until this year that he finally claimed his spot at the top of the podium, winning his first race at the Miami Grand Prix in May. Since then, he’s scored two more wins and is going into the last three races of the 2024 season, including the Las Vegas Grand Prix this weekend, as the runner-up in the Drivers’ Championship (with first place still possible). The McLaren team is also currently leading the Constructors’ Championship.
“Living those moments of, ‘I wonder what it’s like to win a race. I wonder what it’s like to have the whole team there supporting you and cheering.’ Those are things that you dream of achieving, and that’s something that I’m managing to do,” he tells The Hollywood Reporter, reflecting on the past year. “So I am living the dream that I once had.”
In the days leading up to the Las Vegas GP, Norris opened up to THR about his biggest achievements this year, his reason for speaking publicly about mental health, his love-hate relationship with social media, what his perfect day off looks like and more.
What do you make of everything you’ve accomplished so far this season, knowing you’ve been working for this for so long, even before F1?
I mean I’m very proud that we’ve [McLaren] achieved what we have. My first win in Formula 1 was like a dream for everyone, and you got to start somewhere, so it was nice that I got that out of the way. On top of that, the bonus is we’re fighting for championships, which we were not thinking we were going to do at the beginning of the year. Even after three, four, five races, we were like, “Yeah, we’ve still got a lot of work to do.” But we did it! We did the hard work and we improved on so many areas and we ended up being the most competitive team this year. … But it’s definitely not any easier, and if anything it’s tougher because you’re racing against the best of the best who have been in this position for much longer than we have.
You also began your F1 career after Netflix’s Drive to Survive started, so the sport had already found this new audience. But you grew up watching the sport before that show, so do you ever wish you could experience being an F1 driver during those previous times?
A little bit. I think everyone would like to know how it was in different parts of time, whether that’s 30 years ago, 10 years ago, five years ago. I think all of it is quite different. It’s hard to know like in the present time, what the evolution is like and how things do change because you’re kind of just living in the moment, but when you look back on it, five years or 10 years ago, like, oh actually it’s changed a hell of a lot. The thing is, it’s only got better and bigger, the sport. So I think it’s only been more chaotic, in a good way, and more demands on drivers, that kind of thing. But I would like to relive the moment of what I was watching which was 2007, 2008. I first started watching Formula 1 when I was a kid. I would love to live that time because the cars were very different — had V12s, V10 engines, which were sounding crazy compared to what we have now. Times were very, very different. There was less social media, which I would like to experience again [laughs]. It was just a very different time.
Once you’re in the car and all the noise around you stops and you lock in, what’s going through your head in that moment? And what do you love the most about the actual racing aspect of your job?
One thing is just the fact you do forget everything. As much as the team is there with you and they’re in your ear talking, you’re very much just kind of alone and in your own little world and you feel quite isolated. You’re just driving a race car and it’s just you in the car. It’s just a cool moment, always, especially then when you’ve got pressure and you’ve got nerves and all of these things on top of it, adrenaline, that’s what makes it a lot cooler. We can do test sessions, but a test session doesn’t feel anywhere near as cool as qualifying or race because of the pressure and the adrenaline and all of these things, so that makes a big difference. I don’t know what I exactly think of, and I think that’s probably why I like it because you kind of go into a slightly subconscious state of driving … not thinking of things, because I’m a big overthinker. I’ll think of things all the time and too much of the time. So when I’m on track, my brain goes away from that, and I kind of just don’t think. And I like that time of not thinking.
You’re also going to have your own grandstand, dubbed Landostand, at the British Grand Prix next year for the first time, and that sold out within minutes. Do you think your younger self would be able to believe doing that?
The bit that I always remind myself of is when I was watching Formula 1 when I was a kid and you’re seeing it on TV, seeing all the [Lewis] Hamilton fans or the [Fernando] Alonso fans or Jenson [Button], [Sebastian] Vettel, like watching that, that’s what I always kind of dreamed of and wanted to live that moment. But now I am living that moment and I think that’s something that is hard to picture and imagine and to kind of compare, but that is I’m now living the moment that I wanted to. … It’s very special.
As someone who has chosen to be open about your mental health, which can be a vulnerable thing at times, why was it important for you to speak out about that?
Whether it has to do with driving or stuff off track, like mental health, I’ve always just been very honest with saying what I felt. When I’ve struggled, when I’ve improved, when I’ve got better, when I’ve had my bad days, when I have good days, when I do a bad job on track, when I do a good job, I’ll always just be honest with my feelings. ‘Cause I think there’s plenty of people who are not, and just kind of aren’t themselves. And I’m just very happy to say what I believe in. … And the biggest factor that kind of made me probably talk about it is the amount of messages that I get on this kind of thing that I see on social media and stuff from my fans and my supporters saying how much that I’ve helped them or got them out of bad times and supported them in bad times. … And the things that I realize the most is things that you say can have a positive or negative impact on people, but this is one that only had a positive impact and having that knowledge of, wow, I’m not just driving a Formula 1 car and living an awesome life, but I’m helping people out and I’m supporting people in some ways. I think that is almost more special.
With so much of your life constantly in the spotlight, how do you find that balance between your personal and public life?
It’s tough [laughs]. That’s probably one of the biggest negatives is dealing with the public and private life. A lot of things are on social media, so a lot of private becomes public in some ways. More lately, I’m almost trying to steer more into having a more dedicated private life and then trying to really separate them both. I used to be probably more active on social media over the last five years than I am now, whether that’s on Instagram or on Twitch and streaming and those kind of things. Now I kind of respect my private life more. … And getting that balance correct is not an easy thing, and it takes time, it takes experience, but it’s very important and something I’ve got a much better balance of over the last six months, year or so.
During the moments when you are on social media, one comment from you can make something go viral and send fans into a frenzy. As an example, you recently commented on singer Tate McRae’s video and had the whole internet convinced you were going to make a cameo in her “2 hands” music video. Is that aspect of social media fun for you?
I love seeing what people come up with. And people kind of think they know things when they often have absolutely zero idea. Sometimes you’re just like, how the hell have you come up with something like that, there’s no truth to it. But yeah, I have a bit of fun every now and then [laughs]. It’s nice to try and make people believe some things even when it couldn’t be more far from the truth. I mean, you get to meet a lot of people. I’ve never met her [laughs], but I get to meet a lot of cool people from different sports and different backgrounds and all those things. That’s kind of one of the perks of doing what I do. But it’s just a bit of fun at the end of the day and you make the fans have a little frenzy for a couple of weeks and they start coming up with all these conspiracies and headlines and things like that, at the end of the day, it was just one comment that I type on a keyboard and people go nuts over it, but that’s social media nowadays.
What does your perfect day off look like?
I have two things. I love just days alone, because my life is full of people normally and I’m not like the biggest people person [laughs]. I don’t like talking too much and doing those things, so I love doing the opposite, which is just spending some time alone and simple things, lying in bed and just watching some TV or Netflix, whatever. Stuff that probably everyone likes to do sometimes, but that’s like the complete contrast of my life that I live normally and every day, so that’s nice. But on the same side, just a day out with my friends, whether that’s going to do some golf or paddle or going to dinner or lunch or shopping, whatever it is. Just doing some normal things, which sounds weird to say, but sometimes going out with your friends is sometimes some of the best times you can have and best memories that you can have.
What’s one of the biggest challenges you’ve been able to overcome to get you to where you are today?
I think one of the biggest challenges has been just probably focusing more on myself and not worrying as much what other people think. I think I grew up a little bit I think in the correct way, which is always trying to do the right thing and please people and make people smile or never say the wrong thing. And I think that a lot of people are like that, especially when you’re in front of a camera and on TV and in the public eye. But that just is again, very stressful. So trying to be happier to displease people, which doesn’t feel like it’s the right thing to say, but you can’t please everyone. And acknowledging that and understanding that I think allows you to be just more yourself and just allows you to live a bit more freely.
Looking ahead a bit, where would you like to see yourself in five years?
Five years is a lot [laughs]! I don’t know where Formula 1 is going to be in five years; I don’t know what the cars are gonna look like. I think the world’s changing a lot at the minute, in some ways more than it has for a long time. So hard to know, but at the minute, I still love my job, I still love doing what I’m doing, but there’ll be a time when that changes. I started driving when I was a kid because I love to drive and I love to just do that. So there’ll be a time when I wanna do something different and that might be in five years, it could be in 10 years, it could be in two years, I don’t know. It’s a short life I think that everyone has, so just things that I that I enjoy, whether it’s in Formula 1 or out of Formula 1, time will tell. … But hopefully still in Formula 1 and hopefully a champion by then.
If you had to describe what makes Lando Norris, Lando Norris, what would you say?
I always want to have fun and enjoy every moment of my life. Whether that’s when I’m on track and in F1 or outside of it. I think it’s the reason I get on with a good amount of drivers and I’m good friends with drivers because I just want to enjoy things I do. I don’t feel like I need to have enemies and stuff like that. Again, that’s my opinion. There’s plenty of people out there that’s like, “No, you have to have enemies and you can’t be friends,” but that’s their way of doing it, I’m gonna do it my way. There isn’t a correct way, but I just want to enjoy my life and have fun.
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