Historically, relationships between teammates in Formula 1 have been more distant than friendly, since in this sport, the main rival to beat is always the driver next to you, with whom you share a car and with whom you are compare directly.
For that reason, in 2019 and 2020, Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris surprised everyone by the fact that as teammates at McLaren they were able to maintain a friendly relationship that not only stayed on the circuits, but extended to practically all their off-piste activities.
Being his first few years in Formula 1, that relationship created a very outgoing image of Norris . However, following Sainz ‘s departure to Ferrari and Ricciardo ‘s arrival at McLaren , a somewhat different young Brit has been seen.
This is how Norris explained the reason why his relationship with Ricciardo is not the same as with Sainz : “One thing is simple, our interests outside the circuit are very different: he likes more to go for wine, clothes and others, while that I like golf more, eSports and that kind of thing that Carlos also liked”.
“(With Sainz) I played golf from time to time, we competed in the simulator and stuff. To have a closer relationship, one thing is clear, and that is that you need to spend time together and have fun, and golf is one of those. things that made everything better.
That said, Norris also acknowledged that a small change in his personal approach led to a further estrangement from his now-teammate: “I’m much more focused now than before, I spend more time focusing on the important things, the things I really need to focus on. , that is, in my driving and my performance”.
“I spend more time with my engineers and less time talking or having fun. But I still don’t, I love doing it. But yes, I put more emphasis on priorities and work ethic,” he added.
Returning to his personal relationship with the Spanish Ferrari driver, the Briton assured that they are still as close as before: “We are still very good friends. We talk from time to time, we make jokes and things like that. We get along very well, like ever since we were teammates in 2019.”
“There’s probably no one I want to beat more than Carlos, and it’s surely mutual. It’s part of the challenge. I have respect for all the drivers, but I also have friends among them that I race against. He’s part of that.” Lando Norris .
