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The name Lando Norris is one most F1 fans have probably heard of as his emerging talents continue to make waves across the motorsport globe. At just 18, Norris is proving to be an extremely fast learner with four junior formula titles to his name all achieved in his rookie campaigns.
Last year Norris stormed to the FIA European Formula 3 title, taking nine wins from 30 races, plus second place at the iconic Macau Grand Prix to mark a stellar season having joined McLaren as its latest star apprentice.
With two F1 tests already under his belt, plus a one-off outing in Formula 2 at the end of 2017, the Glastonbury-born teenager is tipped as one of the brightest British youngsters and completely on merit.
On his endurance racing debut Norris produce some impressive stint sessions at the Rolex 24 at Daytona to outshine two-time F1 world champion and co-driver Fernando Alonso.
Assessing his fellow Brit pack, Norris will take on George Russell and Jack Aitken in his rookie Formula 2 season in the familiar fold of Carlin while both Russell and Aitken are team-mates at ART Grand Prix.
“Going up against someone like George and Jack who both who have done very well in the past few seasons and are both with ART, a very good team. So altogether they’re going to be very strong,” Norris said. “They’re going to make my life harder. I think it’s a good opportunity to race against them, do what I can, but I don’t think they're any different to having to beat someone else.
“We’re against each other, and we’re rivals, and we’re on the same level on timescale trying to get into Formula 1. Of course I want to beat them, they would want to beat me, but we’re in different teams. I don’t know what’s going on with their team or vice-versa.
“This year’s a big learning year, so I just need to learn as much as I can before the step up into F1. It’s not the biggest kind of problem if I don’t, but at the same time I’m a racing driver. I want to try and beat everyone I can.”
With Norris tipped for Formula 1 with McLaren, potentially as early as 2019, the British driver now must follow the same path as Lewis Hamilton who won main F1 support series title in his rookie year before graduating to the premier class with McLaren. That year Hamilton’s team-mate was Alonso – it could be a case of déjà vu for the Spaniard.