Lando Norris: Son of a millionaire who has the world at his feet after defying bullies

Lando Norris celebrates his long-awaited first grand prix victory in Miami – Getty Images/Clive Mason

Despite few parallels in their respective sons’ routes into Formula One, Anthony Hamilton knew exactly how Lando Norris’s father was feeling on Sunday night.

As the 24-year-old passed the chequered flag in Miami, Hamilton sent his fellow proud parent a text to share in the “beautiful” moment for the family. Hamilton juggled multiple jobs to help get Lewis in a go-kart as a youngster, but he was first to acknowledge that all top sporting families, even those worth £200 million, know sacrifice. “I’ve just had Lewis’ dad give me a text and we’ve been through a lot,” Norris’ father Adam, an entrepreneur, finance specialist and businessman, told Sky Sports late on Sunday.

Despite his relative privilege, Norris’s fairytale in Florida had been a long-time coming, and with plenty of blood, sweat and tears in between. “About time,” Norris told Jenson Button, a fellow racer groomed in Somerset, after finally realising his dream after 110 starts in F1. “F—! Sorry! What a race!”

His father had first questioned whether it would all be worthwhile when Lando was as young as five. In the book F1 Confidential, the Valentino Rossi-fan described how he terrified his parents by driving a quad bike round corners on two wheels before even turning six.

Norris, a quick-witted and approachable figure in the paddock, started out on a 50cc motorbike which he was allowed to ride round the garden of the family’s West Country home.

However, after first getting in a go-kart aged seven, he rose quickly through the teenage ranks in motorport, via F4, Formula Renault and F3 before McLaren snapped him up aged 16 as a junior and simulator driver.

Though he shares his name with the well-known Star Wars character Lando Calrissian, Norris has insisted that he was not named after the Billy Dee Williams-portrayed smuggler. “My mum just came up with it and she doesn’t have a clue what Star Wars is. So it’s definitely not from Star Wars,” Norris said of his name in 2018.

The Bristol-born youngster has not always had it easy, having been reportedly bullied during his karting years over his diminutive stature. However, his flair and fighting spirit soon saw him being fast-tracked into F1 by 2019. Paired with the far more experienced Carlos Sainz, Norris scored points 11 times, and only narrowly missed out on a top-10 championship placing. Yet amid the dominance by Red Bull in recent years, the British-Belgian’s maiden victory would not arrive for another four years. “It’s been a long time coming,” he said last night.

Norris has regularly cited his father, Adam, as an inspiration. Norris Snr is a regular fixture at races but watched on Sunday from his Glastonbury home. They spoke on the phone within minutes of Norris securing victory.

On the radio straight after his win in Miami, the McLaren driver – thanked his father Adam Norris (left) – Getty Images/Kym Illman

With a personal fortune estimated at £205 million, Norris encourages his son to dream as big as he still does. The family is said to have put in £100 million into start-up companies through Horatio Investments. He also has a stake in Hargreaves Lansdown worth, in 2016, £187 million.

The father, who says his son’s next ambition to fulfil will be a first world title, is used to setting high bars for achievement, having enjoyed major success in the financial sector despite having been dogged by dyslexia.

“I had to try harder than everyone else,” he told City AM in 2022. “I wasn’t that good when I started, and I needed to work much more to get up to their level.”

The Norris family have moved home to support Lando’s sporting hopes, relocating to Somerset so he could attend Millfield school for nine years before he left in year 10 before completing his GCSEs. These days he lives a life of glamour in Monaco. “I think he has an unimaginable life,” his father said. “But he works hard at it, and it’s fascinating to watch how much he loves it.”

The ultra-ambitious father’s other focus is in making his Pure Electric brand “bigger than Dyson” in the electric scooter market. “I’m proud of what we’re doing for society,” he said. “I would be really proud to have a business bigger than Dyson, and helping the globe break the cycle of its reliance on cars.”

Norris, in contrast, could not be happier with life in the combustion engine. For the racer who shares names with Star Wars rebel, the downforce is with him.

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