Lando Norris has revealed that he sometimes tries to take his McLaren race suits home for himself when they come to the end of their life cycles after a few weeks of use. The 22-year-old has endured a mixed campaign with McLaren so far this year, with the historic British team having struggled for consistency when compared to their Constructors’ Championship rivals over the course of the campaign to date.
Norris will be hoping to claim a welcome haul of points at the next time of asking at the Singapore Grand Prix, which has gained a formidable reputation as one of the hottest races on the F1 calendar since its introduction in 2008. The McLaren driver has admitted in the build-up to this weekend’s race that he occasionally attempts to take his race suits home with him against the wishes of his team, although it remains to be seen whether he will do so after Singapore given the amount that he is likely to sweat over the course of the event.
“We normally have race suits for two or three races,” Norris told Sky Sports. “They usually then go to a very lucky person, or unlucky because if they’re very sweaty and smelly then it’s maybe not so nice.
“That’s probably going to happen in Singapore. I try to keep some of them, steal some of them, but I’m not normally allowed to keep them so I steal them if I can! I’ve lost it, they’ll tell me off now.”
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Norris signed a new and improved long-term deal at McLaren earlier this year to keep him on their books until at least the end of 2025 as he looks to continue his development on an upward trajectory over the coming seasons. He has served as the team’s focal point since making his F1 debut in 2019 and is set to remain their lead driver for the foreseeable future, with Oscar Piastri set to join him at McLaren at the start of next year.
The man from Bristol went on to insist that he will be fully aware of his responsibility as the most experienced driver at McLaren in 2023 as they aim to get themselves back towards the front of the pecking order in the not-too-distant future.
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“I guess being a slightly more experienced driver [than Piastri]there is that little extra bit where you can look back at previous years or previous cars and know what the weaknesses and strengths are,” added Norris.
“Using reference points is always a good thing for the team. There’s a lot of responsibility but we’re still in a time where we’re trying to develop massively, all comments are good, and from different drivers as well. I don’ t know Oscar that well, we’ve spoken every now and then and I welcomed him to the team.
“I don’t even know what his driving style is. But having two different drivers, the more driving styles you can add to it, everyone’s going to have a comment which is good and it’s going to have a really good impact.”
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