Lando Norris admits he was a 'loner' when growing up in Somerset

McLaren star Lando Norris has admitted he grew up as a “loner” – but wants to “make up for lost time” after vowing to take the
Formula One world championship fight to Max Verstappen. The 24-year-old, from Somerset, has emerged as the driver most likely to stop Verstappen waltzing towards a fourth consecutive title after he followed up his first win in Miami earlier this month with a close second in Imola on Sunday.

Verstappen’s fifth victory from the seven races so far came after he had helped his online racing team win a 24-hour simulation event. Norris, from Glastonbury, was once a prominent fixture in the virtual world, but the Bristol-born racer arrived in Miami with a cut on his nose after a boozy boat party in Amsterdam. The wound – caused when he inadvertently drank from a broken bottle – was still in evidence a fortnight on in Imola.

“When I was younger, my life was literally racing, sim racing and then school,” said Norris. “I didn’t do anything else. I never went out when I was a kid. I was a bit of a loner. Now I am just kind of making up for lost time.

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“I am doing other things and enjoying that more than the sim stuff. My life now has taken me away from that. Maybe Max has done the opposite? I still enjoy it, I still play online, but it is not something I think of doing on a Saturday night!”

Norris heads to this weekend’s race in Monaco – where he now lives – as Verstappen’s chief rival following his impressive run of form.

The Somerset man might be 60 points adrift of Verstappen, but his speed in his revamped McLaren has provided a glimmer of hope that the Red Bull driver’s unprecedented supremacy could be threatened.

“Hopefully it continues like this because it is exciting,” said Norris. “I had a second in China, too, so I have finished second, first, second and that is a good sign. We are extracting everything we can out of the car and we are on the right track.

“We are not at their (Red Bull’s)level just yet, but there will be tracks where we can be stronger. We can definitely continue to fight them.”