It is well known that Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris share a very close friendship. The Spanish driver, who throughout his Formula 1 career has shared the garage with some of the strongest names on the grid, has no hesitation in placing Lando Norris among the absolute benchmarks of modern Formula 1. Following his recent success in the drivers’ championship, the British driver is now receiving recognition that goes beyond statistics and results, rooted instead in a quality that, according to Carlos Sainz, Norris has possessed since his very first days in the sport: exceptional, natural speed.
The speed was there from day one
Sainz looks back to the years when Lando Norris was taking his first steps in Formula 1. “The thing that struck me immediately was his ability to push the car to the limit without mistakes, especially over a single qualifying lap,” Carlos Sainz explained when recalling those early seasons. For the Spaniard, who has also been a teammate of drivers such as Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen, Norris’s raw talent has never been in doubt.
“I have raced alongside all the best, and I can say it without hesitation: when it comes to speed, Lando has nothing to envy anyone. On his best days, he is even quicker than anyone else,” Sainz stated. It is a clear and decisive assessment that leaves little room for interpretation and highlights how the foundation of Norris’s current success was already evident from his Formula 1 debut.
Growth through overall completeness
According to Carlos Sainz, the real evolution in Lando Norris’s career is not related to outright lap time, which has remained consistently strong over the years, but rather to his ability to be competitive in every scenario. “Today he is strong on tracks where he initially struggled more. He has learned how to be effective in all conditions,” Sainz explained.
Experience has turned Lando Norris into a more solid and reliable driver, capable of maintaining a high level of performance throughout an entire season. “Now he is a complete driver, much more so than he was at the beginning. But I don’t think he has become faster: when you arrive in Formula 1, you already have that speed,” Carlos Sainz concluded.
The real step forward, therefore, lies in adaptability, race reading, and managing difficult moments during a long championship. It is precisely this process of maturation that makes Lando Norris not only extremely fast today, but also a credible reference point for both the present and the future of Formula 1.
Leave a Reply