Formula One: Lando Norris treats Daniel Ricciardo as his enemy until team switch in 2021
Daniel Ricciardo famously had Lando Norris crying with laughter last year at a press conference and the young Brit is looking forward to when they become teammates – but until then he sees the Aussie as his enemy.
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McLaren young gun Lando Norris is already excited about the dynamic he expects to share with Australian Daniel Ricciardo as a teammate next year, but says they will remain “enemies” on the track until then.
Ricciardo will make the move to McLaren in 2021 – after his two-year deal with Renault ends at the end of this year – to take the seat of the Ferrari-bound Carlos Sainz alongside Norris.
The Ricciardo-Norris pairing is one McLaren hopes will help the team take another leap forward, building on encouraging 2020 season so far where it sits third in the constructors’ championship behind the all-conquering Mercedes and Red Bull Racing.
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Norris and Ricciardo have already shown to have a relaxed relationship off-track, with the Australian famously having the young Brit crying with laughter at a press conference ahead of last year’s British Grand Prix.
The 20-year-old said he was excited to welcome Ricciardo to McLaren, suggesting the pair shared a similar outlook on racing and life.
“I am looking forward to it, of course,” Norris said of what is expected to be one of the most popular pairings on the Formula One grid.
“We have already had some good laughs together, obviously the press conference this time at Silverstone last year was the first time it was seen that we are having fun.
“We are both similar in terms of our mentality of racing – we want to win and we have the passion for racing and are very dedicated to our jobs and wanting to perform for the team.
“But at the same time we want to enjoy our life, we want to enjoy our time in the (F1) paddock, we want to enjoy everything outside of driving the race car still.
“Of course, we have to be serious sometimes and I think we are very good at that change, being able to work and focus when we need to, but also just having fun and enjoying ourselves and I think we both have a similar mentality on that side of things.”
Norris achieved his first Formula One podium when he finished third at the Austrian Grand Prix last month as the season rebooted after the coronavirus shutdown.
But he hoped to learn more from racing alongside Ricciardo, who was a seven-time Grand Prix winner with Red Bull.
“I look forward to … learning from him because he is still a lot more experienced than I am,” Norris said.
“He is a different driver, so he is going to bring different attributes, different things he can help the team with.
“He is a very strong driver and has won races and I guess that is the only extra bit my current teammate hasn’t (done) and that’s win races.
“It’s just that final bit of knowledge. But at the same time, we are not in a position now to be winning races, we are still far from that.”
But until they join forces next year, Norris won’t be giving anything away while they remain on-track rivals.
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Norris sits fourth in the drivers’ championship, while Ricciardo is ninth for Renault.
“We are still against each other, still on different teams and, as much as we will enjoy working together next year, we are still enemies in terms of on-track and trying to beat each other currently,” Norris said.
“We have spoken sometimes, but (Ricciardo) still races for Renault and Carlos and myself are still racing for McLaren and we still want to do the best job for our teams.
“We are still a very long way away from 2021, we’ve got a lot of work to do this year.”