In recent weeks McLaren driver Lando Norris has become the breakout star of Formula One as he has been streaming video of himself racing in just about every pro motorsport series that will have him. In addition to his F1 Virtual GP duties, he’s been putting in laps in virtual IndyCars, Aussie Supercars, Formula 3, Moto GP, and even Euro Truck Simulator 2. Of course, he’s been broadcasting every session out on Twitch to his growing batch of adoring fans. It helps that he’s funny.
The great part about testing all of this machinery is that he’s getting experience in stuff outside of F1, which he seems to deeply enjoy. In a recent conversation with Racer Magazine, Norris admitted that he’d take any opportunity to race in IndyCar or the Daytona 24 if he can fit it into a hole in his schedule. And as long as it doesn’t distract him from his F1 goals. This weekend he put in a strong effort in IndyCar’s iRacing Challenge at Indianapolis before the whole thing ended in misery. I won’t spoil it, just watch the race below, it was good.
“I mean, I would love to do (IndyCar),” Norris told RACER. “I’m always up for trying something new and trying something different. And I have been since since I started, I’ve done a different route to a lot of people. I’ve done a lot of different categories, starting with Ginetta, I guess, was the first different path that I took [compared] to the majority.
“I love it, and so I would love to go and do the Daytona 24 Hour again after doing that, and just try and do a bit better and not finish 85 laps down or something!
“I would love to, but I obviously have priorities and things that I have to focus on, and things that I would think about in future years. And now obviously all of my focus is on F1, but at the same time, if I get an opportunity to go and race an IndyCar or do the Indy 500 – or any series basically – I would love to try it and go and do it. I don’t know if that’s going to be next year, this year, in 10 years, but it’s something I look forward to.”
Norris has already had a go at the Daytona 24. Back in 2018 he partnered with United Autosport (founded by McLaren boss Zak Brown), but suffered a mechanical failure that sidelined the team for long enough to be run out of contention. It helps that Norris races for McLaren, as the team has its own Papaya Orange squad for the IndyCar season beginning this year, and there’s a third car that could be pushed into service. The Arrow McLaren SP team currently employs Patricio O’ward and Oliver Askew, while Fernando Alonso will run with the team in a third car at Indianapolis and maybe a limited selection of road course events.
Personally, I would love to see Norris bounce around from series to series whenever his F1 calendar allows. There was once a time where drivers would race anything with four wheels, running year round, all over the globe. I’m thinking of drivers like Dan Gurney, Mark Donohue, and Parnelli Jones, among others. I think we need to see Norris follow in the footsteps of Alonso, racing Indy, Daytona, Le Mans, Dakar, whatever. More of this, please.
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