Lando Norris, McLaren, Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, 2018

Norris hoping to end win drought in final F2 weekend

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In the round-up: Lando Norris admits he ‘hasn’t done much winning this year’ as he prepared for his final race weekend in Formula Two.

What they say

Norris, who dropped out of championship contention at the previous round, hasn’t won a race since the season-opening round in Bahrain.

I’m looking forward to it – I think more than some of the others, because it’s the final race. I obviously enjoy winning a lot more than finishing second, third and so on and I haven’t done a lot of winning this year.

So I’m looking forward to it being the final race and kind of putting everything into it, trying to get at least one win in Abu Dhabi but at the same time I’m looking forward to next year even more so it kind of shadows this year. And going into the final race, knowing what I’m going to be looking forward to next year. But I still want to win and still want to do the team proud, try and get the team’s championship because I think we’re still leading that. So it’s definitely not over and I’m not going into it not caring about it. I still want to do well for myself and for the team and hopefully try and get another win, so I’ll be putting my all into it and trying to enjoy every minute.

Quotes: Hazel Southwell

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Comment of the day

Formula 1 should race at tracks like Zandvoort as well as more modern venues, says Matn:

The owner is in fact also a Dutch prince and own several houses (or even complete streets) in Amsterdam, so he’s well known in real estate.

On the other hand he’s also a true race fanatic and didn’t buy into Zandvoort with a possible grand prix looming.

The circuit is old, the facilities are old and the routes to the track small and pass several small villages. Then again it known to be a very nice race track with nice historical values, the track lack’s run off areas and is nicely located in the dunes…apart from grandstands people can take place in the dunes all around the track.

It’s the opposite of tracks like Baku, Vietnam and Miami. F1 needs a bit of both.
Matn

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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40 comments on “Norris hoping to end win drought in final F2 weekend”

  1. Since when has being able to toss £2k into a sport been ‘cheap’!? Maybe to Daily Telegraph readers no doubt. I read the whole article, this quote sums it up:

    The Range Rover my parents owned when I was a car-mad teenager would have been eligible for this event,

    My parents owned an Ital when I was 13.
    Sorry, I’m not bitter… it just highlights how the other half live I guess!! :)

    1. Amen. Maybe £500 is more realistic for many of us… even then…

      Enter simulation. I lashed out and spent AU$2,000 on a reasonably decent simulator setup (wheel, seat, pedals (w/ clutch), shifter, monitor mounts – the whole shebang). Convinced the wife by pointing out how it was much cheaper (and safer) than the real thing.

      Obviously the thrill isn’t there like the real thing; but it does take the edge off the craving to drive and race. Very much enjoying ‘F1 2018’ currently; still dip back into ‘Dirt: Rally’ and ‘Forza’ from time to time for a different experience.

      1. Nice setup. I spent a long period of my 20s on GP4, but maybe it’s time to return to sims properly!

      1. @jaymenon10 Wow, that’s amazing! We had a white one I remember, not sure what version. I remember my dad wrote it off by going over a humpback bridge too fast, getting 4 wheels off the ground and when landing, the centre console collapsed!! Good times :)

    2. You don’t seem to grasp how much people sink into their hobbies. Even in times of recession people tend to continue spending money on their hobbies. There are lots of hobbies more expensive than £2k.

    3. Since when has being able to toss £2k into a sport been ‘cheap’!?

      Season ticket to Arsenal is over £1200 . . . .

  2. As if Now, Norris seems to be more of a hype than talent. Hope to know his potential next season against the field of young talents.

    1. He’s another ‘trust fund baby’. I’m with you, he’s just hype & funny tweets.

    2. Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
      20th November 2018, 8:32

      I disagree. I’ve been following him a few years now and his F2 campaign hasn’t reflected his capabilities.
      He was wicked in F3, outclassed Alonso with a brilliant night stint at the Daytona 24, and rattled off 4 titles in quick succession in 2015/16.
      Lumping him in with Stroll is an injustice, as his McLaren connection started with winning the BRDC young driver of the year award and the subsequent test, where he displayed a standout talent by all accounts.
      His money has given him a leg up no doubt, but he hasn’t just forced his way onto the grid at all, he is there on merit.
      So was Vandoorne though, so who knows how it will go in ’19, but I’ll be rooting for him as I was Stoff.

      1. Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
        20th November 2018, 9:18

        Meant as response to KGN.

        Great news about Floersch

      2. Is he really there on merit? He has not won a single race since winning the opening round of the F2 championship. I think de Vries & Camara are better driver than he is.

        I don’t buy into media hype and that’s what is going on with Norris.

        1. Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
          20th November 2018, 10:40

          I really believe so KGN.
          His F2 record doesn’t tell the whole story.
          To his detriment he struggled to get up to speed with the Pirellis in comparison to those around him, most of whom had already been using them in GP3 and F2, and had lots of bother with the F2 clutch starts, but his junior record really is stellar up to that point. 23 podiums from 30 races in FR2.0 in 2016, then 20 from 30 in F3 in 2017.
          He was nailed on as a future F1 star before going into F2 this year, and dropping to 8 podiums from 22 this year hasn’t been enough to undo that capital he’d earned previously.
          You are correct in that all this next-Hamilton media hype may be overblown, but I’d still back him as one of the top 20 single-seater drivers.

      3. Norris looks fast, but isn’t that yet again another driver maybe not ready yet for F1? His F2 tenure doesn’t look good (acknowledging he had F1 duties as well). They hired him to avoid Red Bull doing it that’s all and it’s a bad reason. I hope he’s ready but I’m not sure he is.

    3. I’m fingers crossed for both Norris and Russel and I will make a decision when I see them perform.
      Although I don’t like the “I’m in F1 because I have more money than talent” type of driver, I have to accept that F1 is becoming more and a playground for that type of person.
      The days of being a great driver is enough to get you a drive seem to be long gone … if they ever truly existed.

  3. Carlos Ghosn’s arrest in Japan and his removal from Nissan are shocking news. It would probably have huge impact on Renault in F1.

    1. Came just to comment on that. I wonder how much longer Renault is going to be around, especially if they’re not closer to the front? Falling share prices is bad news: when the purse strings get tight at manufacturers, the motorsport efforts are usually first to go.

    2. There is definitely a malevolent spirit trying to ruin DanRics Xmas.

    3. I’m a little taken aback that a giant like him has been felled by something silly like this. And, from my reading of news sources, it wasn’t some legal tax evasion, or even sophisticated tax evasion, it was under-reporting his income. It makes one wonder if he never thought it might be a bad idea?

      1. Bigger ones fall harder. Lets see how news develops. Clearly there are cracks in the alliance. Whether this development has any bearing on F1 is to be seen.

      2. What does “under-reporting his income” mean? Everyone at that level is avoiding taxes, or rather avoiding paying more taxes than the law requires. Maybe he reported his income as being correct for some deductions he thought he was entitled to, but wasn’t.

      3. @phylyp, the charges also list “misuse of corporate funds”, with the accusation that he diverted funds through a subsidiary of Nissan to pay for the renovation of multiple individual properties that he owned.

        In many ways, this could be a rather dramatic and adverse development for the sport, as Ghosn was the main supporter of Renault being so heavily involved in F1 – not that long ago, he was the one who decided that Renault should become a full works team in F1, rather than just supplying engines or leaving the sport entirely.

        1. Ah, diversion of company funds for personal use, that’s a bit of a slam-dunk. Cheers, anon!

          Ah, Cyril just thought he’d be rid of questions about RBR after this weekend, and I’m sure he’ll now be selected for the press conference on Thursday facing a different sort of question!

          1. @phylyp – Many, many years ago I was a contractor for a company where the CEO fell foul of the “misuse of corporate funds” laws. As I recall, she had bought properties with her own money, renovated them with (her) company’s money and was using those properties to provide temporary housing for contractors (in this case, me and some other members of my team). All well and good, but not legally sound. I finished my contract before legal judgement and I was too busy (or lazy) to find out what happened in the end.
            TL;DR – sometimes it’s not quite as obvious as you think.

          2. she had bought properties with her own money, renovated them with (her) company’s money and was using those properties to provide temporary housing for contractors (in this case, me and some other members of my team)

            sometimes it’s not quite as obvious as you think

            @tribaltalker – yeah, I can see how it can be messy, without insight into the details of how it was structured (e.g. did she lease the property as-is to the company, for the company to renovate and use for itself, or did she get the company to renovate it and then charged the company a lease amount for use of her property?).

            I’d also heard that the Ghosn issue came to light due to a whistleblower, so there is the possibility of collusion within the company.

            Let’s see how this story evolves, and – more importantly – if it has any bearing on Renault in F1.

    4. This is exactly what I was going to say a well.

      It will be interesting to see how the alliance moves forward after this. Will they stick with the same model? Based on how all this has transpired, I suspect there will be a big shift in governance.

      This will put a lot a pressure of the Renault F1 team’s long term survival. Having said that, Renault aren’t subsidising Renault’s F1 operations to any largesse, so if Cyril and co keep their heads down and get on with it, they may just survive.

    5. Ghosn gone, Marciano gone (RIP), Zetsche gone, Ron Dennis gone.
      All of these were driving forces for their companies’ investments in F1.
      Things are likely going to change.

  4. Good news about Sophia, here’s hoping for a speedy recovery and a return to pursuing her ambitions.

    Any word on the others involved, have they all been discharged?

    1. from news.com.au (@phylyp)

      Tsuboi and photographer Hiroyuki Minami have already been released from hospital. The other photographer, China’s Chan Weng Wang, has to stay for treatment for about 10 days after lacerating his liver. The marshal suffered a broken jaw.

      1. Thank you @coldfly, that seems like good news all around from that incident.

    2. @phylyp, it sounds as if two individuals – the other driver, Tsuboi (who’d been taken for checks after also reporting lower back pain, but seems to be OK) and one of the photographers (possibly the one who’d suffered from lacerations) have now been discharged from hospital, it seems.

      The marshal and the other photographer are being kept under observation in hospital for a few more days, but should hopefully be discharged within the next week or so.

      1. Thank you, anon

    3. Yep – good news all round especially considering how bad it looked.

  5. The trouble is, one does not just build more F1 engines. They take a year or more to make once a team decides to buy an engine. If there are less Renault engines available next year, them there will be less teams racing nextbyear as I see it. Talk about a thin grid!

  6. Lando “hasn’t done much winning this year”. That’s ideal preparation for the next couple of years in a McLaren Renault then.

    1. Yes, he may have won his last race in a single seater, apart from Formula E or Indycar; he could easily end up like Vandoorne.

  7. As I’ve pointed out before, there isn’t an absolute necessity for a return of a Dutch GP. Spa-Francorchamps is enough for the Benelux-area.
    – Hopefully, the arrest of Ghosn isn’t going to lead to Renault withdrawing from F1 altogether.

    1. Hopefully, the arrest of Ghosn isn’t going to lead to Renault withdrawing from F1 altogether.

      @jerejj – I wouldn’t think a withdrawal of Renault from F1 (as a works team, or also as an engine supplier) is on the cards, that would be rash, and it would be throwing away all the investment made earlier. I’m more concerned that they might put in place a spending freeze in 2019 for the Renault works team while Ghosn’s replacement gets a handle on things, which might not bode well for their mid-season development programme.

  8. Not sure if this has been mentioned here already, but if not: do go and listen The Life Scientific: Formula One engineer Caroline Hargrove it is a fascinating interview with someone who was instrumental in developing the (at least at the time) revolutionary McLaren simulator, then moved to McLaren Applied Technologies and worked with the UK cycling team for the 2012 Olympics.

  9. I’d love to see Artem Markelov in F1 just for the fun!

Comments are closed.